Madrid, Spain – The beautiful game just got a blockbuster rom-com sequel, and Lamine Yamal’s not laughing. Fresh off Barcelona’s 18-year-old wunderkind confirming his breakup with Argentine reggaeton sensation Nicki Nicole last week – “No infidelity, just parted ways,” he insisted – the plot twisted harder than a Yamal free-kick. At Friday’s glittering European Golden Shoe ceremony at the Bernabéu, Kylian Mbappé, 26, didn’t just snag his first-ever boot for 31 La Liga screamers. He snagged Nicole’s hand, too, in a PDA parade that’s got X in meltdown.
Eyewitnesses at the star-studded gala – where Mbappé beamed alongside Xabi Alonso and Florentino Pérez – swear Nicole, 25, played the ultimate groupie. She waited backstage as the Frenchman collected his €10,000 crystal trophy, then locked fingers for a victory lap through the paparazzi scrum. “They were all over each other – whispers, laughs, that hotel-bound glow,” a Hola! source spilled. By midnight, the pair vanished into a blacked-out SUV, bound for Madrid’s Mandarin Oriental. Nicole’s IG Story? A shadowy selfie with Mbappé’s arm draped possessively: “New boots, new moves .”
Yamal, nursing a pubalgia tweak and a broken heart in Barcelona, caught wind via viral clips racking 15 million views. The kid who lit up Euro 2024 and El Clásico with audacious horns – cheeky nutmegs that earned him “King of the Horns” – now feels the sting off-pitch. Sources say he rage-watched the ceremony from his Camp Nou condo, texting mates: “When will the love game end?” His ex’s glow-up? Salt in the wound. Nicole scrubbed Yamal pics days post-split but kept the Barca jersey – now, it’s swapped for a Real Madrid chain.
X is a battlefield. #MbappeStealsYamal exploded to 3.2 million posts in 24 hours, memes morphing Yamal’s viral horn on Mbappé (that 2023 U-17 clash) into a cuckold crown. “From nutmegged on field to nutmegged in love – Yamal’s cursed!” one Barca troll cackled. Madridistas gloated: “Nicki chose the GOAT over the kid. Hala Madrid in hearts too.” Fans speculate: rebound fling or calculated Clásico troll? Nicole’s camp calls it “organic vibes”; Mbappé’s? “Friends celebrating.”
For Yamal, the prodigy who turned 18 amid Euros glory and a summer romance that went Insta-official with Monaco yacht snaps, this is brutal. “He thought it was real,” a teammate sighed. Mbappé, post-PSG drama and Madrid honeymoon, thrives on headlines – but poaching a rival’s ex? Nuclear. As La Liga’s return leg looms February, expect fireworks. Will Yamal horn Mbappé into oblivion, or will love’s losers’ bracket claim another victim?
One tweet nails the chaos: “Football: 90 minutes. Love game: Eternal.” Buckle up – the sequel’s savage.
