English international claims his son is obsessed with Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal – “He is very respectful”

English international claims his son is obsessed with Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal – “He is very respectful” As the footballing world looks to move on from the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo-dominated era and embrace the new generation, Lamine Yamal has clearly emerged as one of the posterboys. The Barcelona forward has grown wildly popular and is already dominating the charts when it comes to shirt sales, thereby inspiring millions of new football fans. Declan Rice is one of the big-name players who has admitted that even his son is quite fond of Yamal. Declan Rice on his son adoring Yamal Yamal is already one of the biggest stars in football. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) Speaking ahead of England’s upcoming game against Spain, Rice revealed that his son is such a big fan that he doesn’t want the Arsenal star to play against Yamal. “My son is obsessed with Lamine. I told him I was going to play against him tomorrow, and he kept asking me: Why are you playing against him? ” he said (h/t Beanyman Sports ). Rice went on to heap praise on the Barcelona star for his kindness and respectful nature. “But yes, Lamine was very kind, and as a father, I really appreciated how kind he was. I know he has his little brother to look after, so it’s very similar,” he said. “But I really, really appreciated that. He showed just how respectful he is,” he added. Rice also talked about the recent Ballon d’Or, adding that while Harry Kane was the rightful winner, he expects Yamal to win multiple Ballon d’Ors across his career. “Lamine Yamal will win so many Ballon d’Ors; he’s incredible. But Harry Kane deserves to win this one, in my view,” he said. Will Yamal play against Rice? Yamal will be available to play vs England. (Photo by Diego Souto/Getty Images) Interestingly, whether or not Rice will actually play against Rice was an open question a few days ago, until Luis de la Fuente squashed rumours of the Barcelona star potentially missing the England game. Yamal was missing from the first match against Czechia, leading to many criticisms over Spain giving preferable treatment to the forward. De la Fuente went all out against the critics , revealing that Yamal had been carrying some discomfort. But more importantly, he confirmed that the Spaniard will be available to feature against England this evening. It will be interesting to see how Rice and co. plan to stop the onslaught of the Barcelona forward, who already has an exceptional record of 11 goals and 14 assists for Spain at the age of just 19.