After his breakthrough last season, Yamal has taken his game to the next level under Hansi Flick this year. The 17-year-old has established himself as a key player in the starting line-up and he seems to be getting better week by week.
Lamine Yaman scored his 20th goal for Barcelona at the weekend as Flick’s side came back from two goals down to beat Atletico Madrid 4-2.
As well as scoring 20 goals for Barcelona, Yamal has also provided 24 assists and continues to be one of the most creative players in Europe.
While Messi was also dubbed a ‘prodigy’ in his early years, he was not a regular in Barcelona’s first team until he turned 18.
“Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t do what Lamine is doing at the same age,” Rio Ferdinand recently said on his YouTube channel.
“Ronaldo Nazario, Messi, Neymar, Mbappe, Owen, Zidane, Ronaldinho… none of them have shown the same consistency and continuity as this young player. That is the truth.
“Most great players start emerging at 18. They may have played at 17, but their real brilliance comes from 18 onwards. With Yamal, we have never seen anything like this.”
Messi made his first-team debut for Barcelona in 2004 at the age of 17, although he did not feature regularly until the 2005–06 campaign.
Meanwhile, Yamal made his Barcelona debut at just 15 years old and quickly established himself as a regular starter.
It probably won’t come as a surprise, then, to learn that Yamal scored his 20th career goal at a younger age than Messi.
However, it took the 17-year-old more games to score 20 goals than the Argentine.
Yamal scored his 20th goal for the club in his 89th appearance for Barcelona, while it took Messi just 62 games to reach the 20-goal mark.
“There is an incredible generation of young players with many years ahead of them,” Messi said at an Adidas press conference last year.
“If I had to pick someone because of their age and future, I absolutely agree that Lamine Yamal has been named. He is the present and will definitely have a bright future.”
There is no doubt that the Spanish teenager is currently ranked among the best players in the world and his underlying statistics back up that claim.
