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Barcelona president Joan Laporta has become the latest to play down comparisons between Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi. He believes Messi is the best player in history, while the teenaged Yamal is the best player in the world today.
Speaking to CNN, Laporta said that Messi and Yamal have similar personalities, but he wants to give the teenager space to develop before comparing him to the club legend (via GOAL):
"Lamine is Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi was Lionel Messi. Messi has been the best player in the world, and Lamine, I think that in today's situation, he is the best in the world. "I think we'll see, we'll see. Lamine has a lot of personality, like Messi, in his time he also had a lot of personality. Of course, Messi won everything. Messi did everything. For me, he is probably the best player in history."However, Laporta admitted that Yamal was heading on the same path as Messi and has a comparable ceiling:
"He is the type of player of which there are very few like him because he is a genius, and he is at the highest level."Lamine Yamal has become central to Barcelona's first team in the last 15 months and has been handed the iconic #10 jersey at the club. He signed a new deal with them this summer, keeping him at the club until 2031.
Sergio Aguero and Cristiano Ronaldo urged fans not to pressure Barcelona star amid Lionel Messi comparisons
Sergio Aguero said about Lamine Yamal earlier this month that the teenager shouldn't be compared with Lionel Messi.
He believes the Barcelona youngster won't benefit from it and should be allowed to be himself, telling Stake:
"I don't believe there's a lot of value in this type of hypotheticals. Leo has a singular, one-of-a-kind trajectory of personal and team feats under his belt. "For Barcelona, he's the best there ever was. So, this type of comparisons aren't helpful. Lamine should pave his own path. He's just getting started and he's done brilliantly until now."Cristiano Ronaldo also spoke about the pressure on Yamal and that fans need to let him grow, saying in June (via GOAL):
"Lamine Yamal is doing very well, he is taking full advantage of his talent. Now let the kid grow and don't put too much pressure on him. Let him be and let him grow well, take the pressure off him. He has no shortage of talent."Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal haven't faced off on the pitch, yet. However, the Barcelona legend was involved in a photoshoot with Yamal in 2007, and the photo went viral on social media recently.
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