Lamine Yamal has heard it all before.

When the question came - again - he didn't bite.

"I don't compare myself with him," he said. "I don't want to compare myself with anyone, and even less with Messi. That's something I leave to you.

"He is the best player in football's history. I am making my own way."

So, what are we doing talking about Messi in a Lamine Yamal piece? It is just to create some context, because there are some stunning statistics.

Lamine Yamal turns 18 on Sunday by which time he will have played 106 first-team games - 73 in La Liga, 23 in Europe, six in the Copa del Rey and four others.

By the time Messi turned 18, despite having become - at 17 years, three months and 22 days - the youngest player to represent Barcelona in an official competition, he had played nine first-team games for the club.

It's probably safe to assume that as long as he keeps scoring, creating and winning games and titles for both club and country, Lamine Yamal won't be that bothered what number he is carrying on the back of his shirt.

Not that, of course, this has stopped him having a bit of fun on social media over the speculation that this season he will be wearing Barcelona's iconic number 10.

He has posted pictures of himself one day with the number 19 shirt he currently wears - as a young Messi also did - followed by a homage to some previous wearers of the 10.

The names read like a who's who of footballing royalty. Messi, of course, Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Romario, Hristo Stoichkov, Juan Roman Riquelme, Pep Guardiola and Laszlo Kubala.

Speculation around Barcelona's number 10 shirt has followed him for months.

Out of respect, he did not entertain conversations about it while Ansu Fati, the previous wearer, was still at the club, but he has since moved to Monaco.

Barcelona have not announced anything officially although there has been a dramatic surge in sales of said shirt.

Lamine Yamal is wondering what to do. Take the weight of the 10? Or keep 19 one more season - perhaps until he turns 19?

That's how he appears not a teenager overwhelmed, but a boy enjoying the game. It's not down to ignorance of pressure. It's a mindset, one that believes the best is still to come, and if it doesn't arrive, he'll keep chasing it.

Before the Champions League final he said: "At my age, few have played as many games for a club like Barca, and that's what I value most. Playing at this level and for a club like Barca isn't something that anyone can do."

When asked about the pressure or fear of failure involved with playing at the top level, he said: "I left that fear behind on the pitch in Mataro a while ago."

He was referring to his old pitch in the district of Rocafonda, where he played as a kid with others three, four and more years older.

His celebration is a tribute to where he comes from - a densely populated, working-class neighbourhood in Mataro, known for its multicultural community, social challenges, and strong sense of local identity. The three last numbers of the postcode is the shape of his fingers when he scores, 304.