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Wayne Rooney has claimed that Lamine Yamal is ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at this stage of his career. The Manchester United legend said that the Spaniard could surpass the two legends overall.
Lamine Yamal has been exceptional for club and country at just 18. He made his debut for Barcelona at 15 and has recorded 27 goals and 37 assists in 109 senior appearances for them. He's also scored six goals and provided 12 assists in 23 games for Spain.
Wayne Rooney was recently on Rio Ferdinand's YouTube channel, Rio Ferdinand Presents, and compared Yamal to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He said:
“He’s incredible. I’ve only seen him live once and I think he’s the one to get ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. If he keeps doing what he’s doing now [he will get there], he’s better than all of them. He is miles ahead of Cristiano and Messi [at this stage of his career].”
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Yamal finished second in the Ballon d'Or rankings this year behind Ousmane Dembele. He won the Kopa Trophy instead.
Messi has won a record eight Ballons d'Or in his career, while Ronaldo has won five.
Mark Clattenburg names player he was impressed with more than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Former English referee Mark Clattenburg has revealed that he was impressed with Luis Suarez in the 2009-10 season. He said that while the Uruguayan was 'difficult to referee', he made him forget Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Clattenburg said on Goal's Beast Mode On podcast:
"I'll tell you another player who I found incredibly talented. Difficult player to referee, but a talented player, was Luis Suarez. I remember refereeing him when he was playing for Ajax and he scored four against Slovan Bratislava. I came home to my mates and I went 'I've just watched one of the best players I've ever seen. Forget about Ronaldo, forget about Messi.'"
"I went, 'Wow, this player's a player.' He went on to sign for Liverpool a few months later. He was one of them players that could link everybody. I think Messi's openly said that he loved playing with Suarez because he did all the dirty work for him," he added.
Suarez has had a brilliant career, having plied his trade for the likes of Liverpool and Barcelona, winning numerous trophies. He now plays for Inter Miami with Lionel Messi.
