Lamine Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, has stirred up quite a buzz with his recent engagement announcement. At 35, Nasraoui is set to marry Khristina, a woman just 23 years old, which makes her only five years senior to Yamal, the rising star from Barcelona. This intriguing age gap of 12 years between Nasraoui and his fiancée has certainly caught the public’s attention.

Despite the scrutiny surrounding their relationship, Nasraoui and Khristina have remained undeterred, choosing to focus on their happiness. This week, they made their engagement public, surprising fans and followers who have been keeping a keen eye on their journey together.

The timeline of their romance remains somewhat ambiguous, yet Khristina’s frequent appearances on Nasraoui’s Instagram suggest a blossoming relationship that has been in the public eye for some time now.

In a hint that a wedding could be on the way, Nasraoui captioned a photo of the pair cuddled up together on a balcony with just a black heart emoji and a ring. 

While Nasraoui’s romantic life seems to be taking a joyous turn, his son Yamal’s own love story has taken a different path. The 18-year-old recently ended his relationship with Nikki Nicole, a 25-year-old Argentinian singer. Interestingly, Nicole is older than Nasraoui’s future wife, adding another layer of intrigue to the familial dynamics.

Lamine Yamal’s father Mounir Nasraoui has hinted that he’s engaged to his 23-year-old girlfriend

Nasraoui shared a photo of him cuddled up to Khristina, his girlfriend, along with a caption of a black heart and a ring emoji

But while his dad’s love life is evidently blossoming, Yamal’s is anything but. The 18-year-old split this week from his Argentinian singer girlfriend Nikki Nicole, who at 25 is older than Nasraoui’s partner. 

Having gone official over the summer, Spanish journalist Javier de Hoyos announced that the superstar couple had called time on their romance a couple of days go. 

‘Lamine Yamal has just written to me,’ he said on showbiz programme D Corazon on La 1.  

‘This is an exclusive. Lamine tells me he and Nicki Nicole, who as you know was his girlfriend, are no longer together.

‘But there are a a few things he wants to clarify because in the last few days there has been a lot of speculation about whether he could have been unfaithful to Nicki or not.’ 

Looking at the mobile phone he was holding in his hand Javier, one of D Corazon’s two presenters, said: ‘He’s cleared this up. He says they’re not together anymore and it hasn’t been because of any infidelity. We’ve simply separated and that’s it.

‘Everything that’s been coming out has nothing to do with our relationship.

‘Lamine tells me the trip to Italy has nothing to do with all of this, that he was no longer dating Nicki when he went and he hasn’t been with anyone else.’  

Barcelona star Lamine Yamal meanwhile split this week from his singer girlfriend Nikki Nicole

News of Yamal’s father’s engagement comes just a couple of short months after the Moroccan was subjected to a traumatic ordeal while walking his dog. 

Back in August, he suffered multiple stab wounds after being attacked in the town of Mataro, around 20 miles north of Barcelona.

He is believed to have become embroiled in an argument with people in the area before a fight broke out later that day in which the 35-year-old was seriously injured, according to La Vanguardia. 

Three people were later arrested by Spanish police and accused of attempted murder.

Yamal’s father was eventually lucky to make a full recovery and opened up about the horrifying incident in an interview with Spanish program El Chiringuito a couple of days later. 

‘Thank God they have just taken me up to the ward and I am a little better,’ he said. ‘We must be calmer, for the good of everyone, for mine and my family’s .

‘I must be calmer because I have no other choice, we must think that justice will do its job and it will surely do so, that is the most important thing. Thank God, who is very great, everything has a solution.

‘Of course I was afraid, I saw myself between life and death , afraid like any human being.’ 

The 35-year-old was attacked and stabbed just a couple of short months ago after becoming embroiled in an argument while walking his dog

Footage emerged of Nasraoui (yellow Barcelona shirt) being led away after an apparent confrontation with members of the community in the hours leading up to the fight

Nasraoui has been his son’s biggest supporters over the years and was present as 17-year-old Yamal secured the European Championship title with Spain where they beat England in the final.

Yamal was his nation’s star of the tournament, with his father previously declaring that the rising superstar could ‘be greater than [Lionel] Messi.’

And at the Ballon d’Or presentation in September, Nasraoui claimed Yamal is the ‘best player in the world by far’ after watching PSG forward Ousmane Dembele scoop the coveted prize. 

As he walked by Spanish media following the ceremony, Nasraoui confidently claimed ‘next year he’ll be ours’ before speaking to reporters afterwards.  

‘I wouldn’t say it was theft,’ he said, ‘but rather moral harm to a human being.

‘Because I believe Lamine Yamal is the best player in the world. By far, by far. Not because he’s my son, but because he’s the best player in the world. He has no rival. He’s Lamine Yamal.

‘Something very strange happened here. Next year, he’ll be the Spanish Ballon d’Or winner.’

Despite missing out on the Ballon d’Or, Yamal was awarded the Kopa Trophy for Young Player of the Year.