Manchester United legend hails Barcelona phenom as the ‘best player in the world’ | OneFootball

Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal is now increasingly being seen as the best player on the planet.

It was initially a debate on whether he was the best young player, but his ascendency over the months coupled with his consistency and ability to step up on the big nights makes him a real candidate to be called the best in the business.

After all, very few players on the planet can dictate and control games like he does, let alone terrify opposition defences and have lethal finishing under pressure.

Ferdinand’s praise

Speaking to the media earlier this week, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand commented on Lamine Yamal and held high praise for the Barcelona star, openly calling him the best player in the world.

“Right now, the best player in the world is Lamine Yamal. I love this guy. It’s like he is playing football differently.”

Elaborating on what made the teenager stand out compared to other players on the planet, the legendary defender said:

“It is as if he is playing with the maturity of a 28-year-old guy. He is 17 years old. It’s crazy. Decision-making in the great moments is being done as if it were normal, without pressure.”

Ferdinand then spoke on the experience of watching Yamal in person during one of Barcelona’s recent games and how his brilliance was difficult to describe.

“I saw him against Inter Milan in the Champions League semifinal match and I had the best seat in the stadium, a little high, exactly behind him where he was playing.”

“I saw him for 45 minutes. It’s one of the best 45 minutes in so many years,” he added.

Best in the world. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

He then went on to address the inevitable comparison between Yamal and the greats of the game including Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We just talked about Messi and Ronaldo but they weren’t doing that at that age. They didn’t, I haven’t seen anyone do this,” he said.

On whom the player resembled more between the two icons, Ferdinand said: “I don’t think he is like any of them. He is Lamine Yamal.”

“I don’t think he is like Cristiano. At first, he [Ronaldo] made dribbles, he entertained but he was fast and had rhythm and skills,” he added on Ronaldo.

“With Lamine Yamal it’s not about rhythm and speed, it’s about repetition rhythm. It’s about changing the pace, changing the speed, changing the momentum: slow, fast, slow, fast, fast, slow back as if it were different,” he continued why Yamal was different.

Finally, Ferdinand made it a point to explain why the Barcelona phenom stood out compared to his peers in terms of maturity and decision-making and how it was not about selfish goal-scoring for him.

“And he’s always playing with his head to pass. I think he’s that age too. In terms of having almost 50% desire to kick to score and 50% of assisting. I don’t see children like that.”

“Normally it is the 89% that they only want to score. Lamine, if he can’t score, then he passes it and you are making a decision that is appropriate for the situation,” he added.

“If he has to pass to score, then he will pass it. If he has to score, he will. I love him. Seriously, he’s like an artist. Left-footed football players just look different. It’s crazy,” he concluded.

Source: Mundo Deportivo