In spite of reports that Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal has come to a decision on which nation he would like to represent internationally, Morocco are not giving up hope just yet.
Yamal’s mother is from Equatorial Guinea, while his father comes from Morocco. Yamal himself was born in Barcelona, in Esplugues de Llobregat, and has represented Spain at youth level, most recently at the under-17 European Championships this past summer.
It has been reported that Yamal will continue to play for La Roja, with a call-up from senior Manager Luis de la Fuente thought to be in the pipeline this week.
Morocco Manager Walid Regragui had spoken to him about playing for the Atlas Lions, but so far without success. According to Relevo, both with Yamal and Real Madrid talent Brahim Diaz, the heavyweights are getting involved.
Believing that Brahim would become a regular under de la Fuente, as a player that he had used in the youth ranks, Morocco are already doing their best to convincwe Brahim to switch allegiance from his youth career.
Their representation is being treated as a ‘question of state’ in the North-West African nation, with King Mohamed VI’s people getting in touch with Brahim and Yamal personally in order to convince them to play for Morocco. They are keen to impress upon them that not only would they be playing for one of the world’s best football teams, but would be converted into icons in Morocco, leading their charge into the 2030 World Cup. Morocco want to host the tournament alongside Spain and Portugal.
Neither are likely to be included in this Morocco squad, but both will be drafted in as soon as they give the green light to Regragui. While de la Fuente is not expected to call on Diaz, he will try to tie Yamal into Spanish international duty, despite his tender years.
This is a strategy that has been seen over the years with Spain, the likes of Munir El Haddadi, Ez Abde and Bojan Krkic all being called up perhaps ahead of time in order to represent Spain. The former two did end up representing Morocco, while Bojan never made another appearance.
