Euro star Yamal set to miss Barça’s U.S. tour

Lamine Yamal is set to miss Barcelona’s preseason tour of the United States after helping Spain win the European Championship this summer.

Yamal, 17, set up the first goal in the final as Spain beat England 2-1 in Berlin and was named as the Young Player of the Tournament in Germany.

The forward, who made his debut aged 15, is now entitled to 21 days off, per an agreement brokered by the Spanish Footballers’ Association [AFE], with Barça’s first fixture in the U.S against Manchester City on July 30 in Orlando.

The Catalan side are then due to play Real Madrid on Aug. 3 in New Jersey before wrapping up their tour with a game against AC Milan on Aug. 6 in Baltimore.

Yamal has been rewarded for his fine performances since establishing himself at Barça with the No. 19 shirt that belonged to Lionel Messi between 2005 and 2008.

He played last season with youth team registration, but made 50 appearances for the first team, the second most of anyone in the squad and will be officially promoted to the first team ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.

Yamal played in the No. 27 shirt last year as he was registered with Barcelona’s youth team, but all first-team members in LaLiga are required to wear numbers lower than 25.

Yamal’s participation at Euro 2024, where he scored one goal and assisted four more, ended on Sunday as Spain lifted the trophy for a record-breaking fourth time.

He then returned to Madrid with the rest of his international teammates on Monday to meet the Spanish King, the Prime Minister of the country and to continue the celebrations with the supporters.

On Tuesday, he was back in Barcelona, where he fulfilled various commercial commitments, including a tour of the redevelopment work taking place at Spotify Camp Nou alongside new coach Hansi Flick and teammates Pedri and Gavi.

Later on Tuesday, he was finally able to celebrate turning 17 last Saturday, on the eve of the win over England, at a dinner with family and friends.

Wednesday, therefore, marks the start of his time off, which will end on Aug. 7 when he is expected back in for preseason training ahead of the Joan Gamper Trophy match against Monaco at the Olympic Stadium on Aug. 12.

Barça then begin their LaLiga campaign on Aug. 17 with a trip to Valencia.

Other members of Spain’s Euro 2024-winning squad will also miss the tour of the U.S, although for differing reasons.

Pedri will continue his recovery work in Barcelona after injuring his knee in the quarterfinal win over Germany, while Fermín López will join up with Spain’s under-23s this week ahead of the Olympic Games in France.

Ferran Torres, meanwhile, also has permission to miss the trip to the States, although it’s not been ruled out 100% that he will not fly out towards the end of the expedition.