Overview

• Lamine Yamal, 18, shared a photo with Argentine singer Nicki Nicole to his 37.6 million Instagram followers on her 25th birthday, making the relationship public.
• The seven-year age gap drew wide online reaction, with posts both defending the couple as consenting adults and criticizing the difference in ages.
• Nicole had been linked to Yamal since attending his July birthday celebration, and the pair were later seen together in early August, according to multiple outlets.
• Allegations from the July party include exploiting people with dwarfism and recruiting women based on specific physical traits, with Spain’s disability chief Jesús Martín calling for a ministerial review; no resolution has been announced.
• On the field, Yamal has started the season strongly for Barcelona, scoring in wins over Mallorca and Levante.