Robert Lewandowski is never short of a word or two of advice for Lamine Yamal. He's warned his teenage team-mate of the potential pitfalls of fame and fortune. He's underlined the importance of patience and professionalism. However, Lewandowski has also acknowledged that there are certain aspects of Yamal's situation to which he can't really relate.
The pressure on players is now heavier than ever before. There is no room for nuance, only absolutes, with goals and assists stats seemingly the only accepted measurement of efficacy. Takes must always be hot, judgements almost instantaneous and, in the age of social media, a lie really can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its boots.
"When I started out, it was different," Lewandowski pointed out in an interview with Pilka Nozna. "You waited until Monday for the newspaper to come out and that was it, as the internet was still in its infancy."
It has since spawned a social media monster, radically changing the way in which players experience the game and interact with its followers, and the mere fact that Lewandowski's career spans two such very different eras is testament to a level of sustained excellence that has only been bettered over the past two decades by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
But not even those two living legends were still playing for a legitimate Champions League contender at 36 years of age, which is just the most incredible position for Lewandowski to find himself so soon after it appeared as though his time at the highest level was drawing to an ignominious end...