Inocente Díez 'Kubala': "Lamine Yamal has his mother, who is a ten."

The Franquezas del VallésInocente Díez, who answers to the nickname of Kubala From his time playing football, he works for ARA at the CF Bellavista Millán football pitch. It's located in Les Franqueses, very close to CF La Torreta, a humble neighborhood club in Roca del Vallés where Lamine Yamal got his first contract as a footballer. Díez, who has dedicated a good part of his life to youth football, first at La Torreta and now at Bellavista, is the first coordinator the current Barça star ever had. After separating from Mounir, Lamine Yamal's mother, Sheila, went to work at a fast-food establishment in Granollers. There she met Díez's daughter, who explained to her that her father coordinated CF La Torreta's youth academy and that if her son wanted to play football, he shouldn't worry about money, just take him to training one day and they would find a way to arrange it.

How do you remember Lamine Yamal's arrival at CF La Torreta's youth academy?

— Well, at that moment, Lamine Yamal doesn't appear. Instead, a very small boy appears, with very large cheeks and very curly hair, who comes with his parents. And well, out of the forty children his age [Lamine Yamal wasn't yet four at the time], the parents tell you that the boy wants to play, that he really likes football and everything. We put him on the field to play, and, not that we could see anything at the time, but it's true that, unlike other little kids, he didn't get distracted by sitting on the ground playing with the artificial turf or the rubber, or running away crying to Mom or Dad, nor did he go in or out of the field, and he never left it again. This isn't at all common.

You have a lot to do with why I ended up at CF La Torreta.

— By chance, his mother, Sheila, and my daughter, Sandra, worked together at McDonald's in Granollers, and the boy insisted he wanted to play soccer. The shift schedules there were somewhat complicated; his parents had already separated. She also had a hard time getting the boy to and from school, and they needed someone they could trust. That's when my daughter told her I worked at CF la Torreta, very close to where they lived at the time. And it's important to me that children can play soccer. I like youth soccer; adult soccer doesn't interest me as much anymore.

At CF La Torreta, children like Lamine Yamal from very humble families and various financial difficulties enrolled.

— The priority is the children. We understand it's a way to get them off the streets. It's about introducing them to sports a little. Some later move on to handball or other activities, but soccer really appeals to them. So, you have to make things a little easier for families who don't have as many resources. Generally, almost 100% of them end up paying, when they can, as was the case with Lamine Yamal. They were given facilities, like other children.

From 2009 to 2014, he played for CF La Torreta. He then moved to Barça.

— First, he did trials with Espanyol. The thing is, a series of things are created here that have little to do with sports, somewhat ugly, which we abruptly stopped because, well, there were some interests. Not only can you not claim training rights because you left at seven years old and the priority was for the child to have a good time, but as a club you expect some kind of compensation when he leaves. Then he also did trials with Barça with Isidre Gil, a lifelong visitor from here in Granollers, who made direct contact with the club. The child had the option to choose and chose Barça, but Barça didn't deliver on all the promises it made at CF La Torreta. Not then, not now.

Do you think he's very mature for a seventeen-year-old?

— I'm really surprised because he was very shy. Very shy. A very good friend. A very good teammate. So tiny... He enjoyed it a lot. He never missed a party. He was always there, he was the first in everything. But I'm even more surprised because now I see him on TikTok dancing and stuff. Well, the other day we were talking together. I can still imagine him when he didn't talk much. You'd scold him, he'd come here to the touchline, look at you... We'd scold him because he was with the ball all day. "Let it go, play, play!" And he'd look at you and just nod his head. He'd walk away and keep doing the same thing. He just wanted to score a goal, over and over again. Look, now I see him as too mature! At 17, he shouldn't lose his innocence either... He'll be under a lot of pressure, and when they put a high salary on him and we all go crazy... It's also true that he's lucky with his mother, who's a fountain of wealth.

How do you remember your parents, Sheila and Mounir?

— When they separated as a couple, the boy stayed to live in Granollers, very close to the CF La Torreta stadium. His job, which was then as a painter, couldn't have been charming people. We all know the problems the father has had. A normal, working-class family.