Barcelona given Yamal warning as FIFPro urges clubs to give players more rest

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FT Desk

A year ago, FIFPro expressed concerns about a lack of rest for footballers, especially young players, following the conclusion of the Club World Cup.

The tournament in the United States in 2025 courted controversy as many critics felt it was a needless competition added to the ever-expanding football calendar when it could have been used as a period of rest, particularly after the rigours of the European Championships the summer previously.

Several teams went into the 2025/26 season underprepared and with stars suffering from fatigue.

Chelsea went on to win the tournament, but at what cost?

Last year, a report indicated that between the start of the World Cup and October of 2025, they reported 23 new injuries, and they undoubtedly impacted the Blues in the first half of the 2025/26 Premier League season.

The Men's European Football Injury Index, created by Howden, has ran for the past five years and the 2025 edition detailed injuries that have occurred over the last five seasons.

In September last year, a FIFPro report determined that:

- Many FIFA Club World Cup teams didn't get enough rest and preparation time before new season began

- Continuous competition cycles without minimum protections impact both health and performance at elite level

- The world’s top young players face excessive match exposure despite developmental vulnerability

Dr. Darren Burgess, chair of FIFPRO's High-Performance Advisory Network, said football needs to guarantee time off like other sports.

"If you don't have enough off-season, you don't give your body enough time mentally and physically to freshen up," Dr. Burgess said.

“Plus, not having 28 days as a minimum of preseason prevents players doing rigorous preparation for the season ahead. It leads at worst to injury, and at best reduced capacity to perform. In other sports, the priority has been placed on player performance and player well-being, and the offseason break is a substantial part of that."

Now, that report came a year ago, but the concerns ring true again as players embark on another domestic campaign in 2026/27, coming off the back of the biggest World Cup in history, which featured 48 teams instead of 32.

Focus on Yamal

In the 2024/25 season, Lamine Yamal played 4,553 minutes of football for Barca and in 2025/26 that number dropped to 3,702.

A large reason for that is the hamstring injury he suffered in April but he has been suffering from wear and tear as well due to a diagnosis of pubalgia. Often described as a "mystery injury," pubalgia isn't actually one specific issue. It's an umbrella term that describes several chronic problems in the lower abdomen and groin area.

At any given time, it could flare up, and that happened to Yamal on a couple of occasions last season.

The 19-year-old has played a ludicrous amount of football already in his short career and there are concerns it could hurt him in the long-term.

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To use Lionel Messi as an example. By the age of 19, the Argentine had played 43 professional games. By the time Yamal turned 19, he had played 182.

Even though Spain won the World Cup, Yamal only managed one goal on the way to the tournament win. He headed into the World Cup not fully fit due to that aforementioned hamstring injury.

Former team-mate Robert Lewandowski, who only left Barca this summer for Chicago Fire, believes the world didn't see Yamal at his best.

"Honestly, no, we didn't [see his best this tournament]. The best performance, the best Lamine for me, of course, wasn't the last season, but two seasons ago, that was for me now the best version of Lamine Yamal," Lewandowski told ESPN.

"He's still young, he came to the World Cup after injury and he didn't play for like eight weeks so it's tough if you don't play eight weeks and you have to start playing in the world cup, then you don't have time for the training just from game to game. But he showed really good quality. The Spain players and the team helped Lamine and Lamine also helped the whole team. I think that this cooperation was perfect."

In the short-term, it perhaps wouldn't be productive for Barca to give their best player an extended rest going into this new season, but in the long-term, it might just save their best player.