Lionel Messi has described Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal as the present and future of world football.
The pair met each other for the first time 16 years ago. Yamal’s parents won a charity raffle in 2008 to include their newborn son in a Barcelona calendar with one of the first team players. As fate would have it, the future genius was paired with 20-year-old Messi.
Since establishing himself as a first-team regular at Barcelona at the age of 16, Yamal has earned countless comparisons to Messi. A silky, left-footed right winger with a penchant for abusing opposition full-backs, there is undoubtedly a similarity in their playing styles – something the Argentine great has also acknowledged.
“There is a generation of very good young footballers who still have many years ahead of them,” Messi said at a recent event. Adidas“If I had to choose someone, because of his age and his future, I heard he would choose Lamine Yamal and there’s no doubt that for me too. I agree.
“It depends on him and many things because football is like that, but he is present and there is no doubt that he has a huge future.”
Barcelona vice-captain Raphinha sees more similarities between Yamal and Neymar, but Messi is not a bad role model to follow.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is widely revered as the greatest player of all time. International glory came at the end of his illustrious career, yet Messi established himself as Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer when he was just 24 years old. However, even the giants Argentina cannot match Yamal’s prodigious achievements.
Messi was less than two months away from his 18th birthday when he scored his first goal for Barcelona. Yamal only turned 17 a day before the Euro 2024 finals and has already scored 16 goals and made 88 senior appearances for club and country.