Frenkie de Jong has firmly rejected all comparisons between Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal, despite the remarkable rise of the wing player in Barcelona.
Yamal, who leads Laliga's assist -hit lists with 11 in 24 games this season, made his Barca debut only 15 years and 291 days in April 2023 and naturally made comparisons with Argentinian Great Messi, who debuted for the club in 2004, 17 years old, 17 years old.
Messi has won the Ballon d'Olt eight times, and although Yamal has already played a leading role in a euro 2024 triumph for Spain, the 17-year-old has not yet earned the right to be compared to one of the biggest players of the game, De Jong says.
“I don't think you should compare him with Messi, because I think every football player with whom you compare Messi is still not good enough,” said the midfielder, who spoke between the Netherlands and Spain before the quarterfinals of the Nations League of the Nations League.
Nevertheless, De Jong had no praise for his Barca club size.
“What he does at this age is exceptional and very rare. He is a natural talent,” De Jong added.
“The way he understands the game, the decisions he makes at this age are really impressive. I think this skill is completely innate and luckily he has it.”
Lamine Yamal has completed the most dribbles in Europe Top five competitions this season with 100
22 Dribbles More than second place, Jérémy Doku pic.twitter.com/JWV14MJQ4B
– OneFootball (@onefootball) March 21, 2025
Yamal's performance and figures since breaking into the first team of Barcelona has certainly justified the praise level that he has received.
Among teenagers in Europe's top five competitions, 29 targeted involvement (13 goals, 16 assists) in all competitions are him 11 for his closest competitor, Doue Doue of Paris Saint-Germain (18).
Only Mohamed Salah (22), Rayan Cherki and Raphinha (18) have so far offered more assists than Yamal this campaign.
But for De Jong, Barcelona's top goalscorer, Messi, only remains at the top.
“I don't think there will be another like him,” the Dutchman added.
On Sunday, Yamal gets the opportunity to prove De Jong, while the Netherlands is traveling to Valencia with a place in the semi-final of the Nations League for grabbing, after the dramatic 2-2 draw from Thursday in which the stop-time equalizer of Mikel Merino left the bag delicid.
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