FC Barcelona executive Enric Masip revealed which club recently offered $211.65 million (€200 million) for its wonderkid Lamine Yamal, while appearing on popular Spanish television program El Chiringuito, as reported by Forbes

Masip was first asked if the teenager, who won the Euros with Spain last summer and has continued in fine form under Hansi Flick that has helped Barca top La Liga by six points.

“I would say that right now he is the most decisive player, yes. Let’s see. I don’t think that talking about a 17-year-old boy as the best in the world is good for him, okay?

“For us, yes… For us to think that we have the best in the world I think is nice,” Masip added.

Masip noted that while Lamine debuted as a 15-year-old in the spring of 2024, it has been in “the year where Mbappe decides to go to Madrid”, that “you get a 16-year-old boy who wins the European Championship, who becomes a world phenomenon in a very short time and suddenly you stand in a league that starts as Mbappé’s La Liga and a 17-year-old boy appears who begins to play in a happy way, who overflows, a different player”.

Masip said that this has been “like the icing of the cake” for Barca, and that while Vinicius Jr and Mbappe can “play with that speed, with that quality”, what Lamine does “is something that you saw in [Lionel] Messi”, “something different”.

“Can he be the best in the world? Yes, but it’s good that we stay calm,” Masip reiterated.

Masip accepted that comparisons between Messi and Lamine, which go beyond a viral photo of the Argentine “blessing” the winger when he was barely six months old, and accepted that “it’s going to be like that because the boy doesn’t leave you indifferent either”.

“In other words, every game he does something that leaves you with your mouth open. It’s a privilege for La Liga and Barca to have a player like that.”

Masip, one of the most trusted confidants Laporta has, further opened his mouth about the monstrous offer that came in for Lamine which Laporta himself confirmed during an episode of his podcast.

“The president has already said that he had an offer of €200 million that he rejected and that he never considered it,” Masip stated.

Then when asked where the bid came from, Masip answered: “It was from France”.

El Chiringuito host Josep Pederol said that Lamine would have been “the perfect substitute” for Mbappe, pushing Masip further to confirm that it was Paris Saint-Germain which tabled the offer.

Masip smiled, and said: “Well, when you have money and you have a way to pay for it [i.e. such a big transfer], then you can aspire to try to sign everyone”.

And though Masip didn’t mention PSG’s name outright it is only the Parisians that have that kind of cash and perhaps only them and Manchester City worldwide that boast it to come near smashing the world transfer record.

Atalanta star Ademola Lookman has been named as one of the candidates for the African Footballer of the Year award, where he is the hot favourite.

The other nominees for the award are Simon Adingra (Brighton and Hove Albion and Ivory Coast), Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund and Guinea), Achraf Hakimi (PSG and Morocco) and Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns and South Africa).

The winner in 2023 was Napoli and Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, who was fresh from securing the Scudetto as Serie A Capocannoniere.

Lookman was crucial in helping La Dea win the Europa League over the summer, scoring a sensational hat-trick in the Final 3-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin.

He was also instrumental in Atalanta’s push to the Coppa Italia Final, losing 1-0 to Juventus, and fourth place in Serie A with qualification for the Champions League.

The 27-year-old scored 17 goals with 10 assists in 45 club games last season.

He contributed three goals and an assist in Nigeria’s run to the Final of the Africa Cup of Nations, losing 2-1 to the Ivory Coast.

This all allowed Lookman to finish 14th in the Ballon d’Or tally for 2024.

Although born and raised in England, Lookman opted to represent Nigeria at international level.

Former Belgium, Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax defender Toby Alderweireld has revealed that he decided to end his international career after believing he was “going to die”.

The 35-year-old Alderweireld, who still plays for Royal Antwerp in the Belgian league, quit international soccer in March 2023 after winning 127 caps.

He was part of the so-called “Golden Generation” of players who finished third at the 2018 World Cup. He also took part in the 2014 and 2022 editions.

Alderweireld said a first serious warning about his health came after a defeat in a Belgian Cup match against Union Saint-Gilloise.

“That’s why I quit the Devils,” he told Belgian media VRT.

“I couldn’t sleep that night and went to the club early the next morning to do a strength session,” he recalled. “Before I left, I took a caffeine pill because I don’t like coffee. When I was in the car, my heart suddenly started beating at a rate of a thousand an hour. I thought: I’m going to have a heart attack. I’m done for, I’m never going to see my children again. I pulled over, walked into a furniture store and asked if they could call 911.”

Some time later, Alderweireld said panic took over him again, this time at night.

“It turned out that all the stress made my heart pound,” he told the broadcaster. “That gave me a panic attack, which made my heart beat even faster. You actually drive yourself crazy. And at a certain point you think you’re going to have a heart attack and die.”

Alderweireld later underwent medical examinations.

“We did extreme tests, but everything was okay,” he said. “Then I started talking to people and they said it was due to too much stress. Purely a panic attack. Now I still suffer from that sometimes, but I can accept that because I know it’s nothing.”

The West Australia