Former Barcelona youth coach Aureli Altimira says Lamine Yamal is the "closet thing I've seen to Lionel Messi".

Altimira was coaching at La Masia as Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi came through the system.

On Yamal, who made his first team debut last season at 15, he told SER Cataluyna: "He's not Messi but he's the closest thing to him; if he shoots ten times on goal, nine go between the posts.

"He has an imbalance, he's alive, although he's a cadet, of course.

"When Messi was going up from youth B, to A, to the reserves - You'd say, 'What a cannon, my goodness!'

“Lamine doesn't reach that level but he does things that 19-year-olds don't. I think that, controlling his environment, he will be an important player.

"The most ideal thing would be to have Lamine in the first team dynamic, but playing. Let him play with Barça Atlètic so as not to remain stagnant. Xavi is very smart and alive and he knows how to deal with this type of player."