Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has rated Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal ahead of Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Gerrard insisted that Yamal is more advanced than Messi and Ronaldo were at the same age as the Spain international.
Yamal has been a revelation since he broke into Barcelona’s first team in 2023.
The 19-year-old has come close to winning a Ballon d’Or in the last two years, losing out to Ousmane Dembele and Harry Kane.
“In terms of talent and potential, Yamal is doing things on a football pitch that I have never seen a 19-year-old do,” Gerrard said on The Overlap Daily.
“He is more advanced than Ronaldo was at 19. I played against Messi as a youngster, and he is probably more advanced than he was too.”
At 17, Messi made his Barcelona debut in 2004, while by 19, Ronaldo was already a regular for Manchester United.