Sergi Camello says he does not envy Lamine Yamal

“I don’t envy Lamine Yamal,” says Sergi Camello. In an interview with The Guardian, the Rayo Vallecano forward says he is glad, in his view, to remain an ordinary person in an ordinary team. He contrasts that life with the pressure players at Lamine Yamal’s level can feel.

“I’m Sergio Camello, a normal person at a humble club. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be at Lamine Yamal’s level. I don’t envy him,” he says. The comparison, above all, conveys his relief at not having to carry that kind of pressure.

Camello, Rayo’s leading scorer and the Liga’s second-highest scorer behind Raphinha of Barça, also talks about holding on to the joy of playing. “It’s a sport you chose before it became your job, because it was what made you happiest. You have to reconnect with that child. I also talked about this in therapy: the idea of becoming that child again.”

His attachment to Rayo also comes from what he sees as the spirit of a club from another era. “Rayo is the last club left from football of another time, and that’s what I like,” he explains. He points to familiar faces and neighbourhood bars, where people can run into Isi or Unai and his friends. “Here, football is the least important thing.” That sense of closeness, he says, cannot be found anywhere else.