Nico Williams praises Barcelona star’s maturity: ‘He’s handling it really well’ | OneFootball

After having starred for FC Barcelona for the last three years, Lamine Yamal is currently competing for the biggest trophy in international football, the World Cup 2026, with the Spanish national team. The young winger was not at his best physical level at the start of the tournament, having just recovered from an injury, but seems to have regained full fitness now.

To make things even more difficult for Luis de la Fuente, another of his key wingers, Nico Williams has also been facing some physical problems. Although he was able to return to training, he still missed the last game against Portugal in the Round of 16.

As MARCA has reported, Nico recently appeared in an interview with DAZN, in which he talked about his injury and playing under de la Fuente. Furthermore, he also talked about the Barcelona star Lamine Yamal, and commented on some of the problems he has faced because of his early stardom.

The Spanish winger took on some of the critics of Yamal, and highlighted how he has improved over the years:

“I think there’s been a very clear evolution. He’s matured a lot, and it’s admirable. The people who criticize him… what would they have done if they were Lamine at 18? He’s handling it really well.”

Nico also commented on how much media pressure the Blaugrana forward is constantly under as he stars for one of the biggest clubs in Europe:

“It’s not easy to deal with the media pressure he’s under. If he brushes his teeth, it’s news. I see him doing really well, eager to be involved. He has to keep taking risks to prove he’s the best. He has to keep trying.”

Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal share a very close relationship as they play together in the Spanish national team. They could also have been playing together in the club sides, as the former was very strongly linked with a move to Barcelona in the last two summer transfer windows, but ended up deciding to continue at Athletic Club for various reasons.

In this interview, he has raised an important issue about the Blaugrana forward, i.e., the constant media spotlight he lives under. While certainly not desirable, this situation has not yet caused any decline in the winger’s performances, and hopefully, the youngster would continue to handle this media pressure as well as he has done up to now.