Barcelona star Lamine Yamal almost joined another European giant back in 2022.
Yamal, who has risen to stardom over the last 12-18 months, is seen as one of football's hottest talents after staggering displays in recent years for Barca and Spain.
Already a La Liga and European Championship winner at only 18, the future looks bright for the La Masia academy graduate, but things could have been a whole lot different.
Lamine Yamal could have left Barcelona for European giants back in 2022
Yamal joined Barcelona aged just seven and still holds the record as the club's youngest-ever player to start a La Liga game. Having smashed in a whopping 18 goals last season, his value has subsequently skyrocketed.
But before his breakthrough campaign at the Nou Camp, Yamal is said to have been offered a pretty lucrative contract from another European giant, which was swatted away at the 11th hour.
According to Spanish outlet MARCA, German giants Bayern Munich are said to have held talks with Yamal over a move to the Allianz Arena back in 2022.
The Bundesliga side were aware, however, that the deal wouldn't be finalised until 2023 due to the player's age, with Yamal still only 16 at the time.
Bayern wanted to sign the Spanish winger and also meet with his parents to discuss the move. The club's chief negotiators, Hasan Salihamidzic and Marco Neppe, returned to Munich with positive feelings, but everything after that is said to have taken a turn.
Yamal switched agents to be represented by Jorge Mendes, and Bayern continued their pursuit by speaking to the football super agent over further proposed talks. Valued at just 5m (�4.3m) in 2022, a deal subsequently couldn't be agreed before he turned 16. Yamal then made his Barcelona debut still aged 15, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Furthermore, the report states how Bayern also wanted to sign fellow teammate Gavi, but that deal failed to come to fruition, too.
In FourFourTwo's view, whether Yamal would have sought a move away from Barca remains to be seen, especially given his close affiliation with the club that took a chance on him aged just seven.
