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Lionel Messi is undoubtedly one of the most incredible talents to have graced the game of football. The style and mesmerizing dribbling abilities have made the Argentine an idol for so many young players who try to imitate him on the field of football. While many succeed to do so in early days of their career, they fail to produce the consistency like Messi.
In last few years, many footballers have entered the scene to earn the title of 'Next Messi' but in a matter of few seasons, they have faded away. Let us have a look at 5 of those players:
1. Patrick Roberts
Patrick Roberts was termed as 'The English Messi' and next big thing in world of football in the UK. However, the career graph of youngster has gone down ever since he moved from Fulham to Manchester City in a mega £12million deal. He rarely got a chance to feature in playing XI of Man City and was mostly sent out on loan moves away from the club. Although his time at Celtic was impressive, Roberts could never live up to the hype. However, the now Sunderland player is only 25 years old and can turnaround his career if he can stay away from injuries.
2. Gerard Deulofeu
The Spanish footballer was a part of Barca youth academy when Lionel Messi rose to fame. And when a youngster like Gerard Deulofeu showed glimpses of his dribbling skills, everyone started to hail him as the next Catalan Messi. Unfortunately, things did not pan out the way as expected! He could never establish himself at Barcelona and then had a tough time in Everton. While he had some magical performances for Watford and Udinese in last few seasons, Deulofeu's lack of consistency never let him do full justice to his talent.
3. Ryan Gauld
The Scottish Lionel Messi caught everyone's attention with some astounding stuff during his time at Dundee United when he was only a teenager. Ryan Gauld's move to Sporting Lisbon was the big career step he needed however things fell apart from him in Portugal. The youngster failed to adapt to new conditions and could never re-create the magic on field. The footballer has had various unsuccessful loan spells in last few seasons and he currently finds himself playing in Canadian professional soccer league for Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
4. Marko Marin
The talented attacker arrived to Chelsea in 2012 with the hype of being the German Messi. However, just like others, he also failed to live up to the massive reputation. With so much competition at the Blues, Marko Marin struggled to make his way into the starting XI and was consistently sent out on loan spells, which never allowed him to do justice to his talent. The last few seasons have seen Marin's career take a huge dip and the 32-year-old will forever be remembered as the wonderkid who unfortunately failed to make it big.
5. Ryo Miyaichi
After Arsenel Wenger failed to sign Cristiano Ronaldo in early 2000s, the Arsenal manager tried to make immense by signing the next Lionel Messi in early 2010s. Unfortunately, it did not work out for the Gunners! Ryo Miyaichi, the Japanese wonderkid, was signed following his massive comparisons to Messi but the footballer never arrived to the scene. He struggled to find playing time at Arsenal and his career never took off with frequent loan spells, as Ryo eventually came back to Japan to play for Yokohama in 2021.
