In the summer of 2023, Manchester City made a serious move for Lamine Yamal. The then-16-year-old had not yet made waves at Camp Nou, but inside City’s scouting network, he was already being tracked as a generational winger with the potential to replace Riyad Mahrez and Cole Palmer.
According to reports from Marca and Radio Marca, City went “all out” in their approach, even planning to sign Yamal and loan him immediately to Girona, their La Liga partner club. The strategy was clear: nurture him in Spain‘s top flight before bringing him to the Etihad. Guardiola, well aware of Yamal’s rise through La Masia, kept a close eye on the situation. “Rodri tells me great things about Lamine Yamal,” he told reporters in 2024. “He’s exceptional.”
City’s interest reached Barcelona’s top brass. It forced an immediate reaction. Manager Xavi Hernández fast-tracked Yamal’s path to the first team, handing him a senior debut at just 15 on April 29, 2023. The message was clear: Barcelona would not lose this one.
Barca held firm as City circled
Barcelona advisor Enric Masip confirmed how close the teenager was to leaving. “Yamal and Alejandro Balde have been in a serious situation to leave this summer because there is a club that tried to ‘catch them,’” Masip said on Radio Marca.
That summer became a turning point. Rather than leave, Yamal chose to stay and, by October 2023, signed his first professional deal. It ran through 2026 and included a symbolic $1 billion release clause to send a signal to potential suitors.
Joan Laporta later revealed just how aggressive the interest had become. “We’re getting offers for players like Lamine Yamal, of €200m, and we said no,” the president said in spring 2024. “Because we trust the boy, in his projection, and we don’t have the need to sell.”
Had Yamal joined City, the implications would have been massive. His creativity and poise could have transformed City’s wings for the next decade. But would he have developed the same way away from the system that built him? That question lingers.
For now, Barcelona kept their diamond. Manchester City missed out. And the football world was left with one of its most intriguing near-misses.
