Vincent Kompany believes Barcelona have already found the next Lionel Messi, with the Bayern Munich boss hailing Lamine Yamal as "exceptional".
Messi is one of the greatest footballers of all time and he won four Champions Leagues, ten LaLiga titles and 20 other major honours with Barcelona before his departure in 2021. Yamal, meanwhile, is the youngest ever Barcelona player, having made his senior debut at the age of 15 last year.
Since then, Yamal has starred for both Barcelona and Spain, notably playing a key role in their Euro 2024 triumph. And Kompany has lavished praise on the 17-year-old ahead of Bayern's clash with Barcelona in the Champions League.
"It's exceptional for Barca as a club [to have Yamal] so shortly after the departure of a player like Messi," Kompany said. "For my generation, Messi was one of the key figures of our era. To shortly after this player leaving already have potentially a player who can replace him is quite unique.
"Full credit to La Masia for always trusting these players and giving them the chance. The question for us is not about stopping [Yamal], but trying to win a game against Barcelona, which means [stopping] all the players, not one.
"The focus is on the team, not one player, but he's an exceptional player." Barcelona president Joan Laporta recently revealed that the club rejected a €250million (£207m) for the teenager over the summer.
When asked about the club's transfer business earlier this month, Laporta said: "There are those that think we have [transferred players] to balance the accounts. But that is not the case. The players that have left have left for sporting reasons.
"[Ousmane] Dembele, [Marc] Guiu... they won't have things as good as they did at Barca at any other club. We know what we are doing in the transfer market. We want those that are the best and who want to be here to stay – and we have shown that. A club came to me to sign Lamine for €250M and I said no."
Yamal has continued to impress this season, making 11 goal contributions in 12 appearances across all competitions with new boss Hansi Flick revitalising Barcelona after a disappointing campaign last season.