Lamine Yamal 'excited about the future'

Lamine Yamal, who will be turning 17 very shortly, has spoken to Spanish sports daily Mundo Deportivo about life at FC Barcelona, saying "I'm very excited. I have seen that Hansi Flick likes attacking, direct football." He adds that although he hasn't actually spoken to the new coach yet, he is a great admirer of his work at Bayern Munich.

The teenager also appreciates that there is work to be done, citing the main problem as “the disconnections we've had. We've not been able to follow up goals by scoring another, or we've let in two goals straight after half-time. That's the only thing we really need to improve, because otherwise I think we're quite capable of taking on any team ion the world.”

On the upcoming European Championship, he remarks that “people have said we don't have many world class players, but I think these are the kind of competitions that are won by whoever plays best as a team. Like Argentina at the World Cup."

He also appreciates the need for a strong, solid defence, and also describes the excellent relationship he's forged with Nico Williams of Athletic Club.

Fermín López: 'We're all starting from scratch'

Fermín López, meanwhile, spoke to another paper, SPORT, commenting that "under Hansi Flick we will all be starting from scratch. I view this as a new chance to gain the coach's confidence and get more playing time."

When asked about youngsters who could be the next ‘Fermín’ in the senior team, he was quick to mention the names of Marc Casadó, Marc Bernal and Aleix Garrido.

And as for Euro 24, he describes that as "a dream come true." Having made it into Luis de la Fuente's final squad he says he is now enjoying the wonderful atmosphere among the Spanish players. As for their chances in Germany, he says "people are writing us off, but let's see how well Spain can actually do."