Cristiano Ronaldo has made his feelings clear on Lamine Yamal taking his and Lionel Messi's place

 

The legendary striker has had his say on the young talent.

Football icon Cristiano Ronaldo has given his opinion on Lamine Yamal and if he can live up to players like Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Yamal was one of the breakout stars of the summer, helping guide Spain to glory in the 2024 European Championships.

With such an impressive record at just 17 years old, the Spanish wonderkid appears to be one of the most exciting talents in football.

And now, one of the greatest of all time has weighed in on Yamal’s superstardom, as Ronaldo has had his say on if he believes the forward can be as good as him or long-term rival Messi.

When asked for his thoughts on Yamal by former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand on the Cristiano YouTube channel, Ronaldo said: “I see huge potential, great talent.

“He’ll need luck because he is very young , I hope he does not have any problems

“He was in a contest that helped him a lot, he was in the Spain national team which is really really good and I think he has huge potential.

“But let’s see during his way what’s going to happen but I believe he is gonna be one of the best players in this generation.”

Yamal has become one of the biggest names in football after announcing himself to the world at Euro 2024.

The young forward scored arguably the best goal of the competition against France and was later named the Young Player of the Tournament.

He played in all but one of Spain’s matches at the tournament, scoring one goal and assisting another four across the seven appearances.

 

Lamine Yamal won Euro 2024 with Spain over the summer. (Image: Getty)
Lamine Yamal won Euro 2024 with Spain over the summer. (Image: Getty)

For Barcelona, he has scored 10 goals and assisted 13 in 56 appearances and last year agreed a new deal with the La Liga giants, keeping him at the club until 2026 in a contract which includes a whopping €1 billion release clause.

However, he still has a long way to go if he hopes to reach the heights of Messi and Ronaldo, the two players widely regarded to be the best footballers of all time.

Throughout their careers, Messi has won a record eight Ballon d’Ors while Ronaldo follows behind with five.