Lamine Yamal: 'I play for Barça, but off the training ground, I enjoy my life'

FC Barcelona's teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has been unveiled as the club's new number 10, inheriting a jersey worn by footballing legends such as Diego Maradona, Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. 

The forward – who turned 18 at the weekend – marked the signing of a new contract extending his stay at Barça until 2031 at a ceremony at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, with club president Joan Laporta.

Surrounded by family and friends, Yamal explained that, although his contract was signed in May, he wanted to delay the official presentation to make sure his grandmother – who had been in Morocco at the time – could be present. 

Addressing the media, Yamal said: "Signing this new deal means I'll keep playing for the club of my life. I'll keep enjoying myself, keep winning, because I'm at the best club in the world."

"I don't feel any pressure. I'm really happy, my friends are happy, my family too. And now it's just time to enjoy it, with a different number, but the same goal," he said.

Yamal also spoke about the significance of the number 10 shirt. 

"As a kid, my dream was to make my debut with Barça and then keep growing, and obviously, wear the number 10 shirt."

"I think every kid born in Barcelona dreams of that. So I am grateful to the club for thinking of me, for giving it to me, and now it's time to prove who I am and live up to it," he added.

Yamal marked the occasion with a short video posted to Instagram, featuring his family and the iconic number 10 shirt.

With European Championship and league titles to his name already, Yamal Yamal is setting his sights high this season: the Champions League with Barcelona and World Cup with Spain. 

Off-pitch behaviour

The new number 10 has been in the spotlight in recent days for his off-field behavior. 

A statement from the Association of People with Achondroplasia and Other Skeletal Dysplasias with Dwarfism (ADEE) said they "publicly condemn and denounce the hiring of people with dwarfism as part of the entertainment at footballer Lamine Yamal's recent 18th birthday party."

"People with dwarfism were hired solely for entertainment and promotional activities," the statement said, "a practice that is intolerable because it perpetuates stereotypes, fuels discrimination, and undermines the image and rights of those with achondroplasia or other skeletal dysplasias, as well as all people with disabilities."

At the presentation on Wednesday, Yamal had his line prepared.

"Can I answer this one in Spanish?" he asked the club's communications director after a question in Catalan on the pressure he is under due to his off-field actions.

"I work for Barça, I play for Barça, but when I'm off the training ground, I enjoy my life."