Yamal ‘wants nothing to do with’ Real Madrid star as abnormal removal sparks Spain-Barcelona ‘war’ | OneFootball

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente has explained the abnormal situation which has seen Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal released from international duty.

Barcelona and Yamal failed to tell Spain’s medical staff that the 18-year-old had undergone radiofrequency on a persistent groin injury, which has now ruled him out of action over the international break.

Yamal was released from Spain duty only three days after being called up to De la Fuente’s latest squad on November 7 for their World Cup qualifiers.

It was reported that Barcelona only informed Spain of the procedure at 10:40pm, hours after the squad were due to report for duty, ahead of the matches against Georgia and Turkey.

Speaking in an interview with RNE, De la Fuentes said: “It doesn’t seem very normal to me.

“I’ve never experienced a similar situation. These are procedures that happen outside the national team’s control; it’s what happens, and we have to accept it.”

He added: “I was surprised like everyone else; you don’t have any news or know any details, they tell you, and in health matters, one is left surprised.”

The Spanish FA released a statement on the matter on Tuesday, it read: ‘The Medical Services of the RFEF wish to express their surprise and discomfort after learning at 13:47 on Monday, November 10, the day of the start of the official training camp with the national team, that player Lamine Yamal had undergone an invasive radiofrequency procedure for the treatment of his pubic discomfort that same morning.

‘This procedure was carried out without prior communication to the medical staff of the National Team, with knowledge of the details only through a report received at 22:40 last night, which indicated the medical recommendation of rest for 7-10 days.

‘Given this situation, and prioritising at all times the health, safety and well-being of the player, the Royal Spanish Football Federation has made the decision to release the athlete from the current call-up.

‘We are confident that he will recover well and wish him a speedy and full recovery.’

Reports in Spain claim that the latest issue has ignited a ‘war’ between the Spanish national team and Barcelona with Hansi Flick previously unloading his frustration on how much football Yamal has been playing on international duty.

Flick said earlier this season: “Lamine goes to the national team with pain, didn’t train and had painkillers to play.

“They were three goals up in every match and he played 79 and 73 minutes.

“Between the matches, he didn’t train. This is not taking care of players. Spain have the best team in the world and in every position they are unbelievably good. So I am really sad about this.”

To further complicate things for La Roja boss De la Fuentes, reports in Spain claim that Yamal ‘wants nothing to do with’ Real Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal.

It comes after Carvajal made talking gestures with his hand towards the Barcelona star in the aftermath of their El Clasico clash with Yamal going over to shake his hand.

Yamal had annoyed Real Madrid’s players with comments about the club pre-match and now the Barcelona youngster does not want a relationship with Carvajal.

The report added: ‘Since then, the relationship between the two players has been frozen. There have been no conversations or attempts at reconciliation. Lamine has decided to cut Carvajal off completely, both on and off the pitch. He believes the Real Madrid player’s attitude was unbecoming of a captain. Yamal thinks any reprimand should have taken place in the tunnel, away from the spotlight and the public. And that what Dani did was purely populist.’