The two lives of football’s best-ever teenager: Lamine Yamal, 18, plays in England for the first time tonight – but is he a bad-boy who parties with dwarves and holidays with OnlyFans stars… or a kid in need of protection?

On the night that Ousmane Dembele won the Ballon d’Or award in Paris, Lamine Yamal’s father said that his son missing the award was ‘the greatest moral damage inflicted on a person’.

18-year-old Yamal finished second to Dembele in winning the Champions League with PSG, but Mounir Nasraoui was adamant and insisted that ‘something strange had happened’ and that Yamal was ‘by far the best player in the world’.

Just a few hours earlier, 20 of Yamal’s family and friends had arrived at Theater Du Chatelet with the Barcelona team.

It was also a welcome sight to see his grandmother Fatima make the trip; The same woman had turned down Yamal’s offer to buy her a house, saying she preferred to stay in Rocafonda, a neighborhood originally built to house immigrants.

When I visited Rocafonda in May, the sign on the playground read: En el barrio de Rocafonda, mas Lamine Yamals y menos Desahucios’ (More Lamine Yamals and fewer evictions in the Rocafonda neighborhood). Above all, his is a story of pride and celebration.

That night in France, a special area was reserved in case Yamal won the award. He missed out on the Ballon d’Or, but the youngster won the Kopa Award, given to the best player under the age of 21, for the second year in a row. At just 18 years old, he literally has the world at his feet.

But despite missing out on the award, Yamal remains the most exciting candidate in fame

But despite all the love for his game, Yamal continues to make headlines for his off-field antics, from hosting a controversial birthday party where he allegedly recruited several people with dwarfism to constant stories about his lifestyle and relationships.

Yamal was linked to 30-year-old OnlyFans model Fati Vazquez, who they were seen vacationing with on the island of Pantelleria off the coast of Sicily this summer.

While the teenager denied that the two were in a relationship, Vazquez was more reserved, saying they were “just two people who wanted to have a good time.”

Later that summer, Yamal went public with his relationship with Argentinian rapper-influencer Nicki Nicole, who is six years older than the starlet.

Nicole had attended Yamal’s birthday party; It was claimed that women were paid to attend the party and recruited based on their breast size.

Despite speculation that the duo broke up just 13 days after sharing their love on social media, Nicole and Yamal continued their relationship until the beginning of this month; The pair split following rumors that the striker had been unfaithful to his ex-girlfriend, Italian phenomenon Anna Gegnoso, during a trip to Milan. Yamal and Nicole denied the claim.

Only earlier this year did Yamal move from La Masia to his own flat nearby, along with his cousin Mohammed and childhood friend Suhaib, as part of his desire to have a private life. Barcelona broke their own protocol by initially bringing Yamal to live at La Masia, then made another special exception when he wanted to leave.

A few weeks ago, Yamal posted a photo in front of the £9.5 million mansion that was once the residence of Gerard Pique and Shakira.

Yamal spent a holiday with flight attendant and OnlyFans model Fati Vazquez in June

Claudia Calvo claimed that the starlet recruited women to attend her birthday party based on their breast size.

Yamal most recently dated Argentinian rapper Nicki Nicole, who split from the 25-year-old in November.

Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo report that he now owns the property after signing a six-year deal in the summer that could be worth around £33.5 million.

Yamal made an impressive start to this season with 6 goals and 6 assists in 11 matches on the field, scoring a goal every 74 minutes on average.

Flick’s side are three points behind Real Madrid in La Liga, who lost to Xabi Alonso in last month’s El Clasico. The clash ended when Yamal’s Spanish teammate Dani Carvajal made a hand gesture that suggested the youngster was talking too much.

This came after Yamal made some naive comments in a broadcast studio with his friends.

The comment comparing the Kings League team to Real Madrid and saying ‘they steal and complain’ was made in a sarcastic tone, but the Madrid players did not take these lightly.

A year ago, Yamal scored in Barcelona’s 4-0 win at the Bernabeu and used a photo from that day to further escalate the tension.

There was so much to tell that the 33-year-old resident of Carvajal felt the need to explain it to his compatriots.

After the match, Jude Bellingham shared a photo of himself scoring the winning goal with the caption ‘Talk is cheap’ and Elvis Presley’s music with the caption ‘A Little Less Conversation’.

Teen finds himself in hot water after hosting controversial party for his birthday

Lamal drew the ire of Dani Carvajal by making some naive comments before El Clasico

Barcelona star left the match as heated emotions emerged before the draw

Yamal burst onto the international stage with his breakthrough performance at the Euros last year

But his manager and teammates insist he remains a ‘normal kid’ who continues to learn.

Yamal was not innocent in this regard and paid for his speech before the Clasico, but the question must be asked: Does he need more protection even though he is only 18 years old?

According to Flick, Yamal’s leader status is already clear. “Believe me, he’s not a kid,” Flick told Mail Sport after Barcelona’s 4-3 Clasico win in May.

When the German was asked about Yamal’s off-field choices ahead of last month’s Clasico, he said it was ‘none of my business’.

Yamal’s talent is undeniable and he can back up his words with performances – just look at how he trolled Adrien Rabiot at Euro 2024 – but there was a reminder that there’s always room to learn.

In many ways, 2024 was the year the boy became a man after winning the Euros and dazzling in Germany.

Dembele may have won the Ballon d’Or, but it’s hard to argue there is a more exciting player in the world than Yamal.

After Barcelona lost to Inter in the Champions League semi-final, Inter boss Simone Inzaghi described him as ‘a child born once in 50 years’.

Watching Yamal score against FIFA Puskas Award-nominated Espanyol on the night Barcelona clinched their 28th La Liga title makes you appreciate the joy he can bring to an increasingly structured game.

And whatever your allegiance, he’s sure to be one of the names everyone wants to see at next summer’s World Cup, with the possibility of adding a World Cup medal to his Euro medal when he turns 19.

‘The joyful thing is that he plays with a free spirit and does crazy things on the football field, like a city boy who wants to compete and win. “He doesn’t feel the pressure and maybe in five years it will be different but I really hope not,” Aymeric Laporte told Mail Sport in May.

Perhaps, as Laporte noted, the free spirit will raise questions along the way, but Yamal still has plenty of room to grow.

As Dean Huijsen said last week when asked about Yamal’s absence from the Spanish camp due to groin surgery. ‘Lamine is a normal child. He’s only 18 years old. Sometimes things about him are exaggerated.’