Barcelona set Lamine Yamal wage limit to avoid repeat of Lionel Messi crisis | OneFootball

No one can stop Lamine Yamal's dizzying ascent to footballing stardom, but Barcelona are planning to cap the teenager's financial reward to avoid mistakes they made in the past, according to a report in Spain.

The 17-year-old winger may still wear braces and only recently moved out of the club's academy accommodation, but is already considered to be one of the best in the world in his position. At the current campaign's halfway stage, Yamal has already surpassed his personal tally for goals and assists across the entirety of last season.

Such startling statistics, which don't capture the jaw-dropping flicks and blood-twisting shimmies that litter each performance, have unsurprisingly prompted talk of a contract renewal for Yamal.

The Spain international has already confirmed his intention to pen a new deal, as his existing agreement is set to expire in June 2026. However, Barcelona are thought to have put a ceiling on any salary offer they make, per AS.

"You cannot give €15m net to a 17-year-old boy because at 23 he can ask for double that," a Barcelona source told the Spanish publication.

Lamine Yamal is one of Barcelona's best players, but is nowhere near being the club's top earner - for now / Alex Caparros/GettyImages

Yamal is reportedly one of Barcelona's lowest earners, collecting a reported €1.7m per year after signing his current deal in October 2023 when he had only made ten first-team appearances. Barcelona's best-paid player, Robert Lewandowski, earns around €33m per year (more than €540,000-per-week) while Frenkie de Jong, Ansu Fati and Jules Kounde also take home between €15m and €20m.

While Barcelona are well aware that Yamal deserves to become the team's top earner "sooner or later", they have been burned by showering left-footed prodigies with endless contract renewals.

Lionel Messi and his agent-father Jorge infamously commanded a new deal almost on a yearly basis during his storied Barcelona career. Ultimately, the club could not afford to renew his last contract in the summer of 2021, which led to Messi's tearful Camp Nou departure.

This season, Barcelona have had to appeal to the Spanish government to find room in the budget for Dani Olmo's salary.

The Catalan giants have already turned down nine-digit offers for Yamal and have no intention of losing their prodigious forward in the same embarrassing sequence of circumstances that Messi endured.