3Cat screened the new documentary report “Revolution 304”, and Sport published extracts from it including testimony from former La Masia academy director Xavi Martin. In those extracts, Martin detailed Lamine Yamal joining Barcelona at seven and later moving full-time to La Masia at 12.
What Martin said about Yamal's arrival
Martin said: “Lamine Yamal joined Barcelona at the age of seven, coming from La Torreta, and at twelve he moved to live full-time at La Masia. There was no other boy of his age there, nor any other child from Catalonia. That was a very big privilege.”
Why the move was made
Martin said: “It is clear that his family circumstances and his life influenced our decision to bring him into (La Masia), and there were aspects relating to his habits, such as nutrition, completing his schoolwork, going to training and going to bed early, which were decisive factors in taking that decision.”
Martin's description of Yamal
Martin said: “Lamine was a mature, responsible and grateful child for his age. As far as we know, he never did anything harmful, although I think he is an extremely clever boy, and had he done so we would not have noticed. It is like on the pitch, there are things he does that we don't realise.”
Comparison with Messi
Martin said: “This is something that already happened with Leo Messi.”