Merino hails Yamal as world's best but warns Spain cannot rely on teenager alone

Arsenal and Spain midfielder Mikel Merino has described Lamine Yamal as “probably the best in the world at the minute” ahead of this summer’s World Cup, while cautioning that the 18-year-old cannot carry Spain’s campaign alone.

Speaking to FourFourTwo, Merino reflected on Yamal’s extraordinary rise since the teenager lit up Euro 2024 at just 16, helping Spain lift the trophy and earning himself a Ballon d’Or runner-up finish last year on the back of back-to-back La Liga titles with Barcelona.

“He was unreal,” Merino said of Yamal’s performances at the Euros. “I’ve never seen something like that — only 16 and starring for a national team like Spain. It was weird to witness for the rest of the squad too, because on one hand, you know that being 16 and playing at that level, and with that pressure, isn’t normal. But on the other hand, you just saw how he enjoyed every single day. It was like, ‘OK, this guy is just too good, and he keeps playing like he doesn’t have a care in the world.’”

Yamal will turn 19 in the week leading up to the World Cup final this summer, and Merino is clear-eyed about both his team-mate’s importance and his limitations as a single point of reliance.

“He’s matured a lot since the Euros,” Merino continued. “He’s a much better player now than he was before, even if that’s difficult. He’s a massive player, probably the best in the world at the minute, but he’s not the only player who needs to perform — he can’t do it on his own.”

Merino pointed to Spain’s collective identity as the squad’s defining asset heading into the tournament. “I’d say our biggest strength is that we’re like a collective and we play as a team. He’s a big part of a bigger puzzle.”

Spain enter the World Cup as one of the favourites, though Yamal has been managing injury concerns in the build-up. At Euro 2024, the side were not initially among the bookmakers’ frontrunners — France, England and hosts Germany were all rated more highly — but a dominant group stage, in which Croatia, Italy and Albania were beaten without a goal conceded, quickly changed the narrative.

With two years of elite-level experience now behind him and a squad built on depth and team cohesion around him, Yamal arrives at the World Cup as the competition’s most anticipated young talent — and, if Merino is to be believed, its most dangerous individual.