Lamine Yamal is the world's best teenager - but might Barcelona's wonderkid already be the best player on the planet?

Inter and Italy defender Alessandro Bastoni was asked ahead of last week's game in Catalunya how he and his team-mates intended to stop Yamal. "I don't know," the centre-back admitted to the Gazzetta dello Sport, "because the last time at the Euros it didn't go so well." That was putting it mildly, of course.

Bastoni and Federico Dimarco had been part of an Italy backline that was incessantly tormented by Yamal and fellow Spain winger Nico Williams in one of the most comprehensive 1-0 defeats in football history.

Last Wednesday was even more trying for the Inter duo, because while their team managed to claim a deserved share of the spoils at Montjuic thanks to Dumfries, they were caused even more problems by Yamal from a defensive perspective, particularly during a stunning first-half performance in which the teenager dragged Barca back into the game with a Messi-like solo strike before hitting the crossbar after leaving more defenders trailing in his wake.

"I don't think I have seen a 45 minutes like that from one individual before in my life," TNT Sports pundit Ally McCoist confessed. "It is unbelievable."

Yamal's influence waned somewhat in the second half, but that was only because Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi felt he was left with no other option but to treble up on the teenager.

"Lamine is the kind of talent that comes along every 50 years and, to see him up close, really impressed me," the Nerazzurri coach told Amazon Prime Italia. "He caused us huge problems, as we had to double up the marking every time, but it wasn't enough. We had to put three players on him and, obviously, spaces opened up elsewhere and we were forced to sit deeper."

Despite the closer attention, Yamal still ended up having more touches of the ball (102) than every other player on the pitch bar Barca midfield duo Pedri (107) and Frenkie de Jong (112), while he also completed the most dribbles (six) and whipped over more crosses (10) than Inter's entire team combined (six).

Marcus Thuram, who opened the scoring at Montjuic with a wonderful back-heel finish, was even asked after the game if Yamal were now the world's best player.

"No," the forward replied in an interview on Canal Plus, "the best player in the world is French, and the second is too! They are Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe. After the two of them comes Lamine Yamal."

Thuram clearly didn't intend for his response to be taken too seriously - it was more an amusing show of patriotism than anything else - but Yamal undoubtedly has a legitimate claim on the title of the world's best player. His importance to Barcelona certainly can't be downplayed, that's for sure.

Hansi Flick's side is packed with world-class talent. Raphinha, who has been involved in more goals than any other player in this season's Champions League (20), is one of the leaders in this year's Ballon d'Or race, while Pedri should also be in the running for the way in which he is bossing games for Barca.

However, the Blaugrana are simply not the same side without Yamal in the starting line-up.

Yamal has missed three Liga games this season through injury and Barca dropped points in each one, losing away to Real Sociedad and at home to Atletico Madrid, while also being held to a 2-2 draw by Celta Vigo.

Furthermore, Barca have only won two of the four matches that Lamal has started on the bench - and even then, they were losing both before they brought him on, including on Saturday at already-relegated Real Valladolid.

As a result, the question has been asked several times already this season if the Blaugrana have become overly reliant on the youngster, in much the same way that 'Messidependcia' was so often a topic of debate at Camp Nou during the Argentine's heyday.

Yamal has not yet reached that level of leadership, but the mere fact that it's already a talking point is staggering. After all, against Inter, Yamal became the youngest player ever to score in a Champions League semi-final, at 17 years and 291 days old. Messi, by contrast, had only made one appearance in the competition at the same age.

Of course, the challenge now for Yamal is attaining the same level of staggering consistency Messi achieved over the course of his glittering career - as it is that sustained excellence which marks him out as the greatest player of all time.

"Messi stayed on an unbelievable level for 10, 12, 13 years," former Barca star Ronald De Boer told talkSPORT. "So, can Yamal do that? Can he keep the hunger? Can he stay fit? Can he keep both feet on the ground?

"For me, Messi is still the best I have ever seen, but Yamal is a real threat almost every game and, at that age, performing like this, he's further along than Messi, who only really started flying when he was 21."

It also remains to be seen whether Yamal is capable of evolving his game in the same way Messi did, as the World Cup winner went from a winger with wonderful dribbling skills to a free-scoring false nine just as capable of starting attacks as finishing them.

However, Messi himself is in no doubt that Yamal is only going to get better. "He's still only 17, he's in a growth process, and he'll continue to grow as a player and add things to his game, just like I did," the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner told Simplemente Futbol. "He has incredible qualities and he's already one of the best players in the world."

Is he already the best, though?

Yamal has racked up a mightily impressive 35 goal involvements in all competitions so far this season. However, nine other players have more, including Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, who leads the way with 56 - three clear of Raphinha.

Yamal is also joint-10th in the Champions League rankings. What's interesting, though, is that half of his eight goal involvements have come in his last four outings in the knockout stage, suggesting that Yamal is going to finish the season with the kind of flourish that could see him take the lead in the Ballon d'Or race.

As Flick has said time and time again, the bigger the game, the better Yamal seems to play - a view supported by the fact that he's produced at least one goal or assist in all three of the Clasicos he's played this season, which is an ominous statistic for Real Madrid going into Sunday's likely league title decider at Montjuic.

And that's the thing that really stands out about Yamal: while everyone else is afraid of him, he's afraid of absolutely nothing. As he said himself before going out and running rings around the best defence in the Champions League, he left fear behind him in the park in his native Mataro "a long time ago".

Consequently, Yamal no longer feels pressure, only motivation, and he couldn't be more fired up going into Tuesday's second leg at San Siro - a terrifying thought for Bastoni & Co.

Indeed, while it might be too early to say if Yamal is the best player in the world, he's certainly its most feared forward.