Lionel Messi has made one footballer's dreams come true by giving him the seal of approval as his successor. The Argentinian icon, 38, says the star takes him back to the days when he was young and tearing up opponents on the wing for Barcelona.
Messi has revealed that Lamine Yamal is 'the best' without a doubt and envisions a glorious future for Barca's 18-year-old sensation. 'There's a new generation of footballers who are very good... but if I have to choose one, because of his age and the future he has, it's Lamine Yamal,' Messi said at an Adidas event, via Marca. 'There's no doubt, for me he's the best. He reminds me of myself when I was young.'
It is a tall order but Yamal could match or even surpass the legacy of his hero. The winger has already made 154 club appearances, scoring 49 goals, and is smashing records like they're made of glass. Yamal became the youngest player to reach 40 goals for Barcelona in all competitions, breaking a record set in 1915 by Paulino Alcantara. In March, he became the youngest player to score 10 or more goals in the Champions League.
He has been Barcelona's youngest debutant, youngest goalscorer, and quickest to 100 appearances. In total, he has 16 records at Barca to his name already. Messi's goals-to-game ratio was better after an equivalent number of games, however, Yamal has reached that appearance number a couple of years younger.
Yamal already has a creaking trophy cabinet. At Barca, he is a two-time LaLiga winner and that could become three tonight if they draw or win against Real Madrid, a match which Daily Mail Sport will live blog. With Spain, he has scored six goals in 25 outings and won the 2024 European Championship. Alongside that, he has twice won the Kopa Trophy - the award for the best under-21s player worldwide - and was the runner-up for the most recent Ballon d'Or to Ousmane Dembele.
There is a long way to go for him to surpass Messi, but the icon more than twice his age certainly sees a special future for Yamal.
