Police 'hunting for fourth person involved in attack on Yamal's dad'

Police have confirmed they have arrested three men they are still questioning following the stabbing of Spanish international Lamine Yamal's dad.

Mounir Nasroaui, 32, was rushed to hospital on Wednesday night after being knifed in the chest and ribs in the neighbourhood of Rocafonda in Mataro north of Barcelona where 17-year-old World Cup sensation Yamal grew up.

Detectives have confirmed the arrested men were involved in an earlier incident in which Mounir was filmed in a street confrontation after having water thrown over him from a balcony.

He was filmed being pushed away by local police employed by Mataro Town Hall after getting involved in an argument while wearing a Barcelona shirt with his son's name and squad number on the back.

A spokesman for the regional Mossos d'Esquadra police force said on Thursday morning: 'I can confirm three people have been arrested following the stabbing of a man in the neighbourhood of Rocafonda in Mataro.

'The investigation is still open and officers are still trying to establish the level of implication of those detained.

'More arrests may take place later today. We're not in a position to offer any more details at this stage about the arrested mens' ages and nationalities.

'What we can say is that the stabbing occurred at 9.10pm in a car park and the arrests took place a couple of hours later and the three people arrested were in custody by 11pm.

'The arrests occurred in the neighbourhood of Rocafonda in Mataro. The victim was taken to hospital in Barcelona.

'There was a previous incident involving the men believed to have been involved in the stabbing, shortly after midday yesterday.

'That incident and the circumstances surrounding the subsequent stabbing and whether the men allegedly involved bumped into each other or the suspects laid in wait for the victim is still under investigation and is an important part of the probe because it will determine the charges the arrested men could face.'

Police are said to have been alerted by a man described locally as Mounir's best friend following the stabbing in Frank Marshall Street.

A well-placed police source said on Thursday: 'The knife wounds the victim suffered haven't affected any vital organ and his life is not in danger.'

A fourth man is still being hunted by police according to local reports.

Mounir was admitted to an intensive care unit at Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in Barcelona but is expected to be transferred to a normal ward later on Thursday.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta was among those who visited the Barcelona winger's dad on Wednesday night in hospital following the stabbing.

Police can hold the three suspects for up to 72 hours from the time of their arrest under Spanish law before handing them over to the courts.

An investigating judge will be tasked with deciding whether to remand the suspects in custody or release them on bail pending an ongoing criminal probe.

The hearing will be held in private at a court in Mataro, a 35-minute drive north of Barcelona, as is normal in Spain where only trials take place in public.

The stabbing has been described locally as a 'surprise and unprovoked attack.'

The motive behind the attack is still unclear although Moroccans living in Lamine Yamal's childhood neighbourhood have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction he chose to play for Spain and not for Morocco where his dad was born.

Lamine's famous goal celebration, in which he signals 304 with his fingers, reflects the last three digits of Rocafonda's postcode.

His father and mother, who is from Equatorial Guinea, divorced when he was a child.

The footballer's uncle, who owned a bakery in Rocafonda, told Catalan daily La Vanguardia late last year in an interview when asked about his the teenager's decision to play for Spain: 'At the end of the day Lamine was born here. He's only visited Morocco once.'