When he was 12 years old, Barcelona offered River Plate 120,000 euros per year to move the kid and his family to Spain.

River Plate convinced him to stay with less money and now, 4 years later, he’ll make his debut with the first division tomorrow against Tigre.

Lamela made his debut with River Plate’s 9th division in April 2006. With Diego Buonanotte and Mauro Diaz gone in Toulon, Head Coach Pepe Gorosito sees it as the perfect opportunity to give him a chance. Lamela will be jumping from the 7th division straight to the big time.

You may think telling the kid he was going to make his debut was a huge deal but at big clubs like River Plate things work a little differently: “I found out by checking the roster they posted in the locker room. I looked at it because people were saying I might be on there”.

Welcome to the big stage and good luck kid!