The comparison of Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi addressed by the president of Barcelona, Joan Laporta,

New contract, new shirt number

Despite the celebration of his 18th anniversary last month, comparisons are already made between the young prodigy and Messi, the club's record scorer.

In May, Yamal signed a new long -term contract with the Laliga team, keeping it at the club until 2031 with a release clause of € 1 billion (840 million pounds sterling).

The New Deal also saw Yamal gave the emblematic shirt n ° 10 for the coming season: the number worn for more than a decade by Messi, which left the club in 2021 after winning ten Laliga titles and four trophies of the Champions League.

Laporta greets the teenager “Best in the World”

This year could see Yamal become the youngest Ballon d'Or, after having helped Barcelona to claim a last triple triple Triple last, scoring 18 goals and recorded 21 assists all competitions.

And while Laporta underlined the talents of the teenager's star, he was quick to make comparisons with the Captain of Argentina in context.

“The Lamine is Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi was Lionel Messi,” Laporta told CNN.

“Messi was the best player in the world, and Lamine, I think that in the current moment, is the best in the world. But, we will have to see,”

“Lamine has a lot of personality, just as Messi did it in his early days. Of course, Messi won everything. For me, he is probably the greatest player of all time.

“This is the kind of player there are very few, because he is a genius and performs at the highest level.”

“The world continues and new geniuses are emerging, and the new geniuses are today players like Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Raphinha, all very talented players in the world of football.”