Barcelona and Spain forward Lamine Yamal has been performing a new celebration this season — and for many misguided reasons, it’s got people talking.
After scoring, the 18-year-old stands in front of the cameras before making a gesture with his hands, simulating placing a crown on his head.
The move is inspired by four-time NBA champion LeBron James, who performs the same action — but that hasn’t stopped others in Spanish football from interpreting it in different ways.
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente was asked about it last week in a press conference previewing the team’s World Cup qualifiers in Bulgaria (they won 3-0 on Thursday) and Turkey (a 6-0 win on Sunday)
“To me, the celebration was not crowning himself,” De la Fuente said. “It looked like him putting on a magician’s hat. I told myself while watching the TV: ‘Well, the kid has done another magic trick’. That’s how I understood it.”
You might wonder why De la Fuente appeared to want to defend Yamal from something. You might even wonder why he was asked about the celebration in the first place. The answer is that it has caused something of a stir in Spain.
This summer, Yamal’s name has often been in the spotlight for non-footballing reasons. He is now a global sporting superstar, Spain’s greatest young talent and Barcelona’s new No 10, having taken up the iconic shirt once worn by Lionel Messi. His media profile has grown even bigger than it was just a few months ago, when he was lighting up the Champions League semi-finals.
A special Champions League moment, delivered by Lamine Yamal 📬#UCL pic.twitter.com/fIOjE5gH8L
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 1, 2025
So when Yamal went on his holidays in June and July, the paparazzi followed. Over the past few months, scrutiny over his personal life has not really let up; from criticism over the presence of dwarves for entertainment purposes at his 18th birthday party to speculation over his romantic life, including his relationship with 25-year-old Argentine singer Nicki Nicole.
According to sources close to Yamal — who preferred to speak anonymously to protect their position — the young footballer accepts that he will attract this kind of media attention. He does not care too much, they said.
On the opposite side to him is the traditional tabloid Spanish print and broadcast media, which does not care too much about commenting on individuals’ private lives, either. Yamal’s crowning celebration is just the latest entry point for these voices to have their say on whether he conforms to the behaviour they deem ‘appropriate’. Spoiler alert: it’s not. They cast it as boastful, somehow not fitting for a ‘young role model’.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion on that, but in the view of this writer, it is clearly nonsense. Thankfully, that has also been the view of senior figures from the football world who have been asked about it. It has been a common theme for weeks in sports radio programs or TV shows to ask pundits whether they like Yamal’s new move. But the most complete defence came from his national team manager De la Fuente.
De la Fuente pictured during Spain’s 3-0 win against Bulgaria (Nikolay Dochinov/AFP via Getty Images)
“We tend to highlight the more shallow aspects about athletes, and what we should be highlighting to the next generation is that this kid (Yamal), who made his (Spain) debut at 16 years old, works like nobody else,” De la Fuente said last week.
“He’s always taken care of himself with top standards. He has an outstanding talent, but he trains six hours per day, goes to the gym, does the treatments with physios and everything we call ‘invisible training’. Everything Lamine has achieved is not because he threw a birthday party, or because the way he celebrates a goal. No. Those are meaningless details. What we need to highlight is the work he puts in to make this happen.”
Ever since Yamal made his debut as a 15-year-old for Barca in April 2023, the risk of facing too much pressure too soon has always been part of the public conversation about him. For his part, he has taken it all in his stride and seems to have revelled in the whirlwind rise to what is now a verified place as a global superstar. Those close to him say he has always welcomed this. He does not want to be just a good player. He dreams of becoming a sports icon.
Over the past year, his world has shifted a great deal towards that. This summer, he signed a new contract with Barcelona that has put him among the club’s top earners. He has inherited the No 10 shirt, with the attached historical and commercial weight. He has become Adidas’ biggest name in football, with the German sportswear company last week launching Yamal’s own unique in-house brand, styled in reference to his roots in Rocafonda.
Yamal playing for Spain against Bulgaria on Thursday (Nikolay Dochinov/AFP via Getty Images)
Yamal is also one of the strongest candidates to win this season’s Ballon d’Or. If he doesn’t, which is very possible given the 2024-25 season Ousmane Dembele had at Paris Saint-Germain, he will surely at least be named one of the top three players in the world.
It feels like the sky is the limit for Yamal’s ambitions — and judging by the public persona we are seeing more and more of, he feels that too. His breakthrough into football stardom has also been reflected in the social media culture he has established around himself, with his profiles reaching engagement levels you really only see in the very special cases. The crown celebration fits into all this.
Yamal must face the scrutiny every professional athlete does — and he can be criticised whenever he does not do his job properly. If he ever stops working as an elite player, forgets his duties as a footballer or does not perform as he can, it will be waiting for him. As long as it is sensible, that’s fair enough.
But before any of this, let Yamal dream about becoming the next king of football — because he has earned that right.
(Top photo: David Ramirez/Soccrates/Getty Images)
