Lamine Yamal is the best player in Spain, and Barcelona face a dilemma because of it - ESPN

These two things might both be true — even if they really shouldn't be:

1) Lamine Yamal is the best player in LaLiga.

2) Lamine Yamal is 18 years old.

This isn't news to anyone, given that Yamal finished second in Ballon d'Or voting just last year. And as his father told us, his son not winning the award was «the biggest moral damage done to a human being.»

This was wrong because, uh, [frantically waves arms in a way that signifies the entire multi-millennium sweep of humanity's transgressions against one another]. But it was also wrong because Yamal just wasn't the best player in the world last year. He registered fewer goals+assists than the likes of Ollie Watkins, Yoane Wissa, and Tim Kleindienst. Mohamed Salah put up 47 goals+assists; Yamal had 22.

Just as a general rule of thumb: If you're an attacker, and someone else who plays the same position as you more than doubles your amount of goals+assists, then you're not the best player in the world.

This season, though, Yamal reached a new level. It won't be a moral atrocity if he doesn't win a popularity contest like the Ballon d'Or, but he certainly has a case for it. He has put up 27 goals+assists, and on a per-90 basis, he is averaging 0.95 non-penalty goals+assists — the best rate in LaLiga.

But then, of course, he got hurt. He tore his hamstring on April 22, and now it's a race against time for his body to be back for Spain's opening match at the World Cup.

All of which brings us to the conundrum that comes with a player so good, so early in his career. Lamine Yamal really is one of the best players in the world. And Barcelona harbor annual aspirations of being the best soccer team in the world — the more they play Lamine Yamal, the better they will be.

Being 18