Lamine Yamal inherits Messi's number 10, holding Grandma Fatima's hand.

BarcelonaA changing of the guard in Barça history. After more than a decade in which the number 10 shirt belonged to a certain Leo Messi, it now officially belongs to Lamine Yamal. The sterile impasse that Ansu Fati has led him to is long gone. In a week in which the young Barça star is surrounded by controversy over his eighteenth birthday party and after a private event held at the club offices, the young talent from the Rocafonda neighborhood is clearly the new Barça icon. He has signed a star contract with a salary of fifteen million per season and will wear an iconic number, the club has been marketing shirts for weeks, despite the announcement only being made official this Wednesday. The renewal agreement was finalized on May 27, but the final signature was given this afternoon: Lamine Yamal is a Barça player until 2031.

The event was attended by a good part of his family, both maternal and paternal, as well as his two faithful squires – his cousin Mohamed Abde and his best friend from childhood, Souhaib – and also by a key figure in understanding the life story of Barça's new and brilliant number 10: his grandmother Fá. She is the paternal grandmother of the prodigy footballer. He still lives in Rocafonda, But she often returns to Kasr al-Kabir, a town in northern Morocco. Fátima, now 71 (she knows she was born in 1954, but not on what date), had a difficult childhood. Her mother died when she was six months old, and she was raised by her father, her maternal grandfather, and her uncle's wife. Her father was a soldier in Spain and had several wives. When he left, Fátima had to live with them and suffered. At the age of twelve, she was forced to marry, but the marriage only lasted five days.

She was never able to study because she had to take care of her brother and nephews. Later, she remarried, but her husband died young. In Morocco, she worked tending goats, massaging women in a sauna, in a factory, and selling vegetables. In Catalonia, she began cleaning houses without papers and later worked, now legally, in nursing homes, where she cared for people and cooked. She has six children, including Abdul and Mounir, the father of Lamine Yamal. And she has 24 grandchildren. One of them is the young Barça talent, whom she saw this Wednesday elevated to the status of the new global icon of a football giant like Barça. Her mother, Sheila, raised her in Granollers while she worked in a restaurant. fast food and where a little Lamine Yamal started playing for CF la Torreta, a humble neighborhood club whose membership he couldn't afford at first. Kubala He worked with Sheila and was the one who mentioned the possibility of signing him up for the club where he was the coordinator. Now he also looks back proudly, from a distance, like "that little boy with curly hair" is the new Barça number 10.

Lamine Yamal: "A challenge? Winning the Champions League."

After signing his new contract, Lamine Yamal posed for a photo in his new shirt with the brand new number 10 and made his initial comments. "It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid. We're very happy. My family and I. I want to win, enjoy, and continue growing at this club. For me, Barça is my life. I've been here since I was seven. I'm fulfilling the dream of every kid at La Masia. I'm looking forward to playing at the new Camp Nou this season. We'll win for sure." He then spoke briefly to the press. "I'm under no pressure," he said about inheriting the number 10. "Renewing with Barça until 2031 is the start of a very long road. I want to enjoy myself like last year, even more than last year! I want to make the fans happy," he added. Asked about a challenge for next season, Lamine Yamal was clear: "Winning the Champions League."

Regarding the criticism she has received for her eighteenth birthday celebration party –The state government has urged the Prosecutor's Office to investigate whether Lamine Yamal hired people with dwarfism for his birthday.–, the topic was tiptoed around at the event – the question time was short – and the footballer simply said: "I'm a Barça employee, but when I leave the Sports City, I enjoy my private life."