Lionel Messi has claimed that a highly promising teenager has the potential to win the Ballon d’Or in the future.
Cementing his status on Monday night as the undisputed greatest footballer of his generation with his eighth Ballon d’Or award, Messi highlighted the next generation of players coming through who will likely challenge for the gong over the next few years.
Understandably, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Vincius Jr were all highlighted by the Argentine, though a surprise name entered his list of potential candidates capable of picking up a Ballon d’Or over the course of their careers.
Messi and Mbappe at the Ballon d’Or awards (Image credit: Getty Images)
”There is a generation of players that can compete in the coming years,” Messi told L’Equipe. “There are the cases of Haaland, Mbappe, Vinicius… I don’t know, there are many young people.
“Lamine Yamal, who is now very young and is already playing at Barcelona and being important… will play a prominent role and fight for it in the future too. There are always good players. A very nice stage is coming to for us to enjoy.”
It might not come as much of a surprise to those who have watched Yamal play 14 times for Barcelona this season, such is his obvious talent, but the winger is still only 16-years-old and has plenty of years of development left to complete.
Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal has impressed Messi (Image credit: Getty Images)
Regardless, Yamal has clearly impressed Messi, earning comparisons with the Argentine due to his silky left-footed dribbling and clear star-quality.
Yamal is the youngest player to ever appear for Barcelona in La Liga, when he made his debut for the Blaugrana aged 15years, nine months and 16 days old in a 4-0 victory against Real Betis in April 2023.
Barcelona need to be careful with Yamal, though. The club has been here before in recent years, most notably with Ansu Fati, and it hasn’t quite worked out as expected. While the on-loan Brighton forward still has plenty of time on his side at 20, he has failed to fulfil the once-astronomic expectations placed on him due to suffering injuries and form dips in the last few years.
More Lionel Messi and Ballon d’Or stories
FFT editor James Andrew has argued why Erling Haaland should have won the 2023 award, while deputy editor Matthew Ketchell has laid out why Messi is more deserving.
Pep Guardiola has weighed in on the debate – meanwhile, these are the biggest robberies in Ballon d’Or history.
This is how the Ballon d’Or 2023 ceremony unfolded as it happened.
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