Wayne Rooney has hailed Lamine Yamal as 'the one to take over' from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Yamal has taken European football by storm in the last few months, from being an integral part of the Spain team that won Euro 2024 to hitting 100 appearances for Barcelona as they chase a Treble.
Yamal won the Copa del Rey with Barca last month, and they are now targeting both LaLiga and Champions League success. He started their semi-final second-leg clash with Inter Milan on Tuesday night.
The wider football world has been full of praise for the 17-year-old, who scored a sensational solo goal in the first leg in Spain last week.
The strike took him to 15 goals in all competitions this season, while he has also picked up 24 assists while forming an impressive partnership with Raphinha on the opposite flank.
And Rooney, who was a youth sensation himself at Everton before joining Manchester United, has offered Yamal perhaps the highest praise possible, insisting he is the next big thing in world football.
'He's incredible,' Rooney said on Amazon Prime's coverage of the semi-final clash. 'Barcelona tend to have these kind of players.
'Obviously, Messi and Ronaldinho and Figo and Rivaldo and all these players. He's the latest one. What I love about him is that he's got no fear. He commits defenders, makes them make a decision and he's obviously got composure with his goalscoring.
'I think he's the next player. We've had Messi and Ronaldo over the last 20 years, he's the one to take over.'