Lionel Messi pits Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal in Ballon d’Or rivalry with Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe

Lionel Messi, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, is a magician on the football field. He has won the title more times than anyone else due to his extraordinary capabilities as a footballer. The Ballon d’Or is a trophy that every footballer wants to see their name attached to.

With the next generation of stars emerging in a few years, the rivalry is starting to get fierce. In a recent interview, the greatest of all time mentioned an interesting name in the race for the Ballon d’Or in the coming years, amidst stars like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.

Lionel Messi backs Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal for Ballon d’Or

Messi was asked a few questions in an interview about the upcoming rivalries for the Ballon d’Or. With many youngsters stepping up and raising their game, Messi mentioned a few names that will ignite the next era.

He said in an interview with L’Equipe, “The players to compete for the Ballon d’Or in the coming years?”

There may be a very beautiful rivalry in the coming years with players like Haaland, Mbappe, Vinicius, and many young players competing for the Ballon d’Or.

I also think that Lamine Yamal, who is still very young and now plays for Barcelona, will play a prominent role and fight for it in the future too.

Certainly, there will be others competing for it, new players that we do not know will appear, because there are always new players, and I think it will be a very beautiful era to enjoy.”

Lamine Yamal’s Lionel Messi fanboyism

Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s wonderkid, emerged through the youth ranks of La Masia to make a name for himself in world football. His playing style is quite similar to that of Lionel Messi. As a right-winger, Yamal has already produced some amazing moments reminiscent of his idol, all at just 16 years of age.

As reported by Goal, Yamal says, “Messi is my idol. He was always and remains so now that I play for Barcelona. I have never had another idol. Once I took a photo with Messi, I was unknown. Maybe one day I will become like him.”

With Yamal’s increasing popularity and impressive performance at such a young age, he is destined for greatness in his career. Hopefully, he can reach the same level as Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe in the coming years and compete with them for the prestigious Ballon d’Or.

Do you think Lionel Messi’s speculations on Lamine Yamal will be true? Will he be able to follow in his idol’s footsteps? Make sure to let us know in the comments.