Raphinha has predicted Barcelona teammate Lamine Yamal and Chelsea winger Estêvão will become the two best players in the world.
The teenage prodigies will face each other for the first time in their career on Tuesday night as Barcelona travel to Chelsea in the Champions League.
Brazilian winger Raphinha, who was in contention to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or, shares a dressing room with Yamal at Barça and plays alongside Estêvão with the Brazil national team—so he’s fully qualified to talk about what they are capable of achieving having witnessed what the 18-year-olds can do first-hand.
For years, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were the two standard bearers in the game—winning 13 Ballons d’Or between then—and they are set for a tremendous send off this summer as they prepare to take part in their final World Cup.
The Future Is Here
The future looks exceptionally bright, however, and Raphinha did not mince his words when describing the potential of Yamal and Estêvão.
“To me they are to players of a spectacular level,” Raphinha said. “I think that in the coming years, the next many years of their career, they’ll be the best players in the world.
“I’m sure of this because I work with Lamine [Yamal] at the club and with Estêvão in the national team and to me, they’re two tremendous talents. Being at the top depends a lot more on them than anything else.
“I’m sure they’re on the right path to be the best at their positions, at their clubs, at their national teams. I try to help them with the experience I have, but I’m sure they’re talents that will fly for many years.”
Cucurella, Maresca Share Thoughts on Estevao, Yamal Comparisons
Raphinha wasn’t the only notable figure to discuss the similarities between Yamal and Estêvão. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, though, opted to stay away from direct comparisons and just highlighted how these are the type of players that make fans enjoy the sport.
“It’s nice for people that love football to watch players like Estêvão, like Lamine Yamal, like Pedri. This is the beauty of football. So, we are happy that Estêvão is with us,” the Blues boss said.
“For me personally, the most important thing for Estêvão is that he has to enjoy football, he has to be happy. He has not to think about being better than this player or the other player, he has just to be better than himself day by day.”
Like Raphinha, Marc Cucurella also shares a dressing room with the pair of young stars. In his eyes, they both share similar qualities as well as a similar personality.
“Very special players, they have a lot of talent,” Cucurella said. “They always want the ball, they always try to do one by ones. They can decide games.
“At the moment the difference is Lamine [Yamal has been] playing in Europe from two or three seasons ago and Estêvão is arriving this season. But he’s doing very well and if he continues in this this way he can arrive at Lamine’s [Yamal] level.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Raphinha Names the Two Best Players in the World for Years to Come.
