Steven Gerrard says Lamine Yamal is ahead of Messi and Ronaldo at 19

Steven Gerrard believes Lamine Yamal is already further advanced than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were at the same age and has the potential to become one of football’s greatest players.

The former Liverpool and England captain has been impressed by the Barcelona forward’s rapid progress, with the 19-year-old already regarded as one of the leading players in world football.

Yamal has won two La Liga titles with Barcelona, as well as the European Championship and World Cup with Spain. His influence is reflected in a return of 62 goals from 167 club appearances.

Gerrard thinks Yamal has the ability to reach the level achieved by Messi and Ronaldo, but stressed that his future will depend on maintaining both his ambition and consistency.

“He’s the one player I would say who potentially has that level, if he continues to evolve,” Gerrard said.

The former midfielder also placed Yamal above Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland when assessing their potential, although both forwards are already established among the best players in the world.

“Mbappe and Haaland are around there, in terms of being in their prime years right now, but it seems to me that Lamine is one who’s just a bit above that,” Gerrard added.

Keeping Yamal motivated

Gerrard identified the challenge of preserving Yamal’s hunger as he continues to experience success at such an early stage of his career.

He said the responsibility would fall not only on the player but also on those around him at Barcelona.

“The biggest challenge for him – and those around him at Barcelona – is how do they keep him hungry?” Gerrard said.

Yamal’s development has prompted comparisons with Messi and Ronaldo, who went on to dominate world football for more than a decade.

Gerrard, who played against Messi when the Argentine was still a young player, said Yamal was displaying a level of ability he had not previously seen from someone of the same age.

“In terms of talent and potential, he’s doing things on a football pitch that I’ve never seen a 19-year-old do,” he said.

“He’s more advanced than Ronaldo was at 19. I played against Messi as a youngster, and he’s probably more advanced than he was too.”

Despite his assessment of Yamal’s talent, Gerrard said the teenager still had to demonstrate that he could match the remarkable consistency and goalscoring records produced by Messi and Ronaldo across their careers.

“But is he going to have the consistency which they both had? Can he get the goals they did – and will he evolve into a No.9?” he added.