Lamine Yamal told why it is difficult for him to ‘be a Lionel Messi’ – but teenage wonderkid is tipped by Barcelona legend Rivaldo to become ‘best in the world’

At just 17 years of age, Yamal is already a record-breaking European Championship winner. The history books have been rewritten with Barca and Spain, leading to obvious comparisons with fellow La Masia academy graduate Messi.

Following in the footsteps of an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner will be no easy task and Rivaldo – who has a Golden Ball of his own – has told Marca of Yamal’s ongoing development: “It’s impressive, he’s still a 17-year-old kid and he’s already doing very good things. I don’t know if he’s going to be a Messi, it’s a very difficult comparison because of everything the Argentinian did at the club. Lamine has everything to be the best in the world and win many titles with Barcelona. I like him a lot, he plays with joy and enjoys football. And he makes the fans enjoy it.”

Rivaldo added on how Yamal needs to be handled from here, with it easy for him to become distracted or start buying into his own hype: “It’s essential to look after him. He’s still a kid, he’s talked about a lot in the press and he knows he’s important. He has to be very intelligent because football changes you a lot. He must have people by his side who talk to him and help him in his career so that he can be the best in the world.”

Yamal continues to dazzle audiences around the world and prove that if you are good enough, then you are old enough. Brazilian superstar Rivaldo went on to say: “He looks older. The way he plays, you’d say he’s 25 or 26 years old. He looks like he’s been playing for a long time and already has the experience of an older player. He will go far because he plays very well, both at Barcelona and in the national team where he can do very well in the World Cup.”

Yamal has already passed 60 appearances for Barcelona, while earning 17 senior caps for Spain. He has spoken of wanting to avoid the Messi comparisons, for obvious reasons, but is looking to create his own legacy by chasing down prestigious collective and individual honours.