Thierry Henry has suggested that Lamine Yamal ‘might be better’ than Lionel Messi after his fine performance for Barcelona on Wednesday.
Yamal left many pundits drooling after the Catalan club drew 3-3 against Inter Milan in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash.
The 17-year-old Spain international winger has now played 100 games for Barcelona, conjuring up a remarkable tally of 22 goals and 33 assists.
Speaking on CBS Sports after Barcelona’s draw with Inter, Jamie Carragher declared that watching Yamal was like ‘watching Messi in his heyday’.
Henry then appeared to go one step further and said: ‘We can talk about a lot of guys who are supposed to be on the throne and whatnot.
‘But one thing that amazes me about football is that you always think there is no way someone is going to be better – or might be better – than Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo.
‘Or in my time, Pele or [Diego] Maradona… And then Yamal arrives.’
Rio Ferdinand was also left blown away by Yamal – and believes he is already the best player in the world at this moment in time.
‘As a pure football talent I’m going as far as to say I think Lamine Yamal is on another level to any player playing the game in the top [five] leagues in world football,’ the former Manchester United defender posted on X.
Even Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi had big words to say about Yamal, describing him as a ‘talent that is born once every 50 years’.
‘[He is a] difficult player to mark,’ Inzaghi said. ‘In the last 25 minutes of the first half Lamine Yamal caused us a lot of problems.
‘He is a talent that is born once every 50 years, I had never seen him live and today he impressed me.’
In the build-up to Wednesday’s game, Yamal himself rejected comparisons to Messi, who many consider to be the greatest football player of all time.
‘I don’t compare myself to him,’ Yamal said, who came through Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy just like the Argentine legend.
‘Because I don’t compare myself to anyone – and much less with Messi.
‘I don’t think the comparison makes sense, with Messi even less – I’m going to enjoy myself, and be myself.’
Speaking during the match against Inter Milan after Yamal scored, Ferdinand, on commentary duties for TNT Sports, said: ‘You want to see brilliance? The youngest man on the pitch has produced it. This kid is taking the mick.
Fellow commentator Ally McCoist added: ‘Once Lamine Yamal gets half a yard… that is genius. What a treat this is. That is absolutely magic.’