Gerard Pique is making 17-year-old Lamine Yamal the crown jewel of his Kings League. The Barcelona teenager is set to join the roster of one lucky club in the seven-a-side competition at some point in the new season.
For now, Yamal is strictly an ambassador. This is all part of developing the youngster’s brand architecture as he becomes football’s next global superstar.
The starlet has already made 55 appearances for Barcelona, setting countless club scoring and assist records at 16. After becoming the second-youngest Champions League player ever last season, he became the Euro’s youngest player this summer, spearheading La Roja’s triumph. He picks up where he left off, starting the new La Liga season with four assists and one goal in just four La Liga matches.
Lamine Yamal kicks off 2024-25 Kings League season
The athletic entrepreneur introduced the King League’s new season in a social media ad. “Here begins the 2024-25 Kings season. Let’s get through the game,” says Yamal in the YouTube promo.
He revealed himself as the concealed player underneath the hidden cape, a billboard teased out in Madrid a week prior.
The amateur football league has grown exponentially since its start in 2022, primarily through Gen Z platforms such as Twitch and TikTok. Former star footballers like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Iker Casillas, Sergio Aguero, Ronaldinho, and Eden Hazard have all featured in matches. However, an active, high-profile player like Yamal has yet to play a role.
Whether Lamine plays or not in the King’s League doesn’t matter. His affiliation with the league is a brilliant marketing coup for Pique, whose target audience is short-attention-span video gamers who watch second-screen football. The King’s League, with its tie-breaker penalty shootouts, double goals, and an intermixing of legends and amateurs, is more interesting than the latest Champions League ‘Swiss style’ format debacle.
