Whether on or off the pitch, whatever the 18-year-old does is scrutinised and picked apart, but such is the life of one of the best young football players in the world.
Far too early to compare him with Messi
It's more than a little fanciful to be comparing him to the likes of Lionel Messi at this early stage too. Ansu Fati trod that same path before him, and look how that worked out.
Whilst it's often seemed like Lamine Yamal has had to carry his side to victory in the same way that the Argentine maestro did, that sense of 'responsibility' is going to weigh incredibly heavily on such young shoulders.
In practice, and aside from anything else, that often means he's playing games when he should be resting, and a recent recurring injury problem is something that both player and club likely never anticipated.
Issues in his groin area - which has already seen him miss five matches this season - has forced a withdrawal from the Spain squad that left the Spanish Football Federation 'surprised and concerned.'
Club and country demands
They too demand that the player take part in every possible minute of every game for the simple fact that he's already the national team's talisman too.
Looking at his numbers since he burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old, it's understandable why both club and country are so demanding.
In 140 games played already, Lamine Yamal has scored 37 goals and assisted 46 more.
At Barcelona, only Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Ferran Torres have better records, though each has played considerably more games.
He's created 107 chances at club level alone, which is an astonishing number for a player who won't be 19 until July 2026.
A complete lack of fear, no matter the opponent, allied to an unbelievable raw ability, has given him total confidence in his own game and the swagger to go with it.
Plenty of room for improvement
Although the cockiness has already started to rub opponents up the wrong way - witness the way experienced pro Dani Carvajal took the bait at the end of El Clasico - to take that away from him would mean that he would lose the essence of what makes him brilliant to some degree.
He will also get better with more experience, of course, but frankly, he needs to.
Those all too willing to crown him as the new messiah already, before he's really made an indelible mark on the game, would do well to delve a little deeper into some of the numbers.
Only Lewandowski has a worse pass completion rate than Lamine Yamal's figures from the last couple of seasons, and most would argue that the Polish international's game is more about being in the right place to score goals rather than bringing his teammates into play.
Though the tricky teen's passing stats were in the upper 70% range too, that isn't good enough for any Barcelona player, let alone one that the club appear to be hanging their hat on for the future.
He has no heading ability to speak of, either; just five aerial duels won is significantly worse than every other member of the first-team squad, including the goalkeepers.
A 52.9% one-on-one ground duel success is also nothing to write home about, suggesting that for all of his attacking excellence, there's a lot of work to do to get Lamine Yamal to fulfil his defensive obligations.
Let him be a teenager
Clearly then, the youngster is still a mere mortal in some respects, and thank goodness for that.
He's garnered as many headlines off the pitch for certain aspects of his behaviour, and thank goodness for that too.
At 18 years of age, he's only doing what every other person his age is doing, with the only difference being they're not in the full glare of the public gaze.
As long as he can continue to perform well on the pitch, then surely he can be cut some slack for his personal choices, which should not reflect in any way on his work.
2026 World Cup could help cement his legend
Whether the club vs country row continues to escalate over the coming months and into a World Cup year will be something to keep an eye on, as much to see whether it affects the player's form and state of mind as anything else.
Assuming that his current injury concerns are only temporary, Lamine Yamal could begin to cement his legacy in the beautiful game with headline-grabbing performances in FIFA's showpiece event next summer.
In the meantime, the best he can do is continue to be true to himself in and out of work, stay humble and grounded, ignore the haters, listen intently to his coaching staff and those closest to him, and continue ploughing the furrow for himself that may one day elevate him to the position of becoming a true legend.
