Meet Mezian Mesloub: The 16-year-old drawing Lamine Yamal comparisons

16 Sept 2026 15:53 BST | 6 min read

Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

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Mezian Mesloub is a young player who knows how to make an entrance. It took him precisely 11 seconds to score his first goal in professional football, and at the age of 16 has already shown a capacity to transform matches even in the Champions League.

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He has less than 90 minutes of professional football behind him and yet has already matched Lamine Yamal as the only player to register a Champions League assist before his 17th birthday.

And he is already at the heart of a three-way international tug-of-war between France, Algeria and Portugal.

But who is this teenager, why is he already being compared to Lamine Yamal, and could he become one of European football's next great young stars?

Why Mesloub is already being compared to Lamine Yamal

Mesloub’s entrance on the right wing against Sparta Prague in the Champions League sparked social media comparisons to Barcelona star Lamine Yamal.

There were obvious similarities. He operated on the right wing and showed the same sense of bravado in possession. The technique looked natural and the low centre of gravity in his dribbling was devastating. There was a willingness to take responsibility for his team, a desire to be daring and a bravery to execute it. Even with his side under pressure, he repeatedly demanded possession. Most importantly, he was able to impact the match positively for his side.

Mezian Mesloub came on with 30 minutes to play and transformed the game for Lens.

16-year-olds aren't meant to be this good...pic.twitter.com/Is1sPCKcSJ
— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) September 11, 2026

Mesloub's 11-second introduction to professional football

Mesloub, the son of Algeria international Walid Mesloub, hit the ground running in the professional game, taking just 11 seconds to match his father’s career total of one Ligue 1 goal.

He had been thrown on as a wildcard late in a home encounter with Nantes that Lens needed to win in order to maintain their hopes of beating PSG to the Ligue 1 title.

Ten seconds later, he gathered the ball on the edge of the box, took a touch and delivered a shot across the goalkeeper into the far corner of the net. By the time he had played 11 seconds of professional football, he had collected his first match-winning goal. It is also the fastest Ligue 1 goal scored by a substitute this century.

© IMAGO - Mezian Mesloub of Lens scores on his Ligue 1 debut against Nantes, 2025/26

Mesloub takes his Lamine Yamal comparison to Europe

Four months after announcing himself in France, he produced another glimpse of why the Lamine Yamal comparisons are emerging, this time on the European stage. Once again he was called upon to save his side, and once again he delivered.

Lens were trailing 1-0 to 10-man Sparta Prague in the Champions League, when he was thrown on after an hour. His arrival was once again impactful, though not quite so dramatically or quickly as his debut.

The French side had been rudderless offensively before his introduction, yet he showed a willingness to take responsibility for his side and drive them forward. Ultimately, it ended with an assist for Florian Thauvin, who scored Lens’ second in a dramatic 3-2 win.

Mesloub wasn’t on the scoresheet, but his fingerprints were all over the French side’s first away win in Europe during his lifetime.

“Mezian made an incredible entrance,” Ruben Aguilar, who scored the winning goal, explained after the game. “We know his talent and we're going to take good care of him. He'll continue to improve because he has great qualities.”

Head coach Dino Topmoller, who was controversially sacked this week, added: “It's incredible, at 16, to show this character, this responsibility, to say: 'I want every ball.' We knew he was a player who could be very decisive, and I have great faith in him.”

But Mesloub is not simply the 'next Lamine Yamal'

With less than a full match of professional football under his belt, it would be unfair to label Mesloub ‘the next’ anything at this point.

He is still a young player finding his way in the game and has yet to even start a single fixture.

While there are elements of Lamine Yamal to his play, he is also capable of operating more centrally.

This would make Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki a more comparable player, particularly with the Frenchman having also graduated from Ligue 1 via Lyon.

How he develops and what type of player he becomes will be determined not over a spell or weeks or months, but years.

Real Madrid, Barcelona and a three-way international tug-of-war?

What is certain is that interest will inevitably arrive for him. Indeed, it already has. Benfica tried to sign him in the summer only for Mesloub to commit himself further to Lens.

It may well be that he is already beyond the reach of a Benfica-sized side at this point in his career, with the remainder of his development taking place either in Lens or at a true heavyweight, such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or PSG.

Premier League sides are no doubt monitoring his progress, yet it will be January 2028 before they are able to sign him as FIFA’s laws do not allow cross-border transfers outside of the EU before players are 18, except in very specific circumstances.

And there’s also an added dimension of uncertainty regarding Mesloub’s international future. He is a Portugal U17 international but is also qualified for France and Algeria, with Le Parisien reporting that no decision has been taken yet.

Clearly, it’s early days in his career, but this mix of Cherki and Lamine Yamal, plus early impact on the biggest stage, has already seen Mesloub earmarked for potential greatness before his 17th birthday.

With Ayyoub Bouaddi having graduated from Lille to move to Manchester City in a €95 million deal this summer, Lens will hope that they can carve out a similar career path for their great hope.