Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi admits he's following the progress of Lamine Yamal at Barcelona.

The former Barca captain has namechecked the teen among his nominations for future winners of the award.

The Inter Miami star said: "Some players have been seeing each other for years.

"There is a generation of players that could have a very nice dispute in the coming years. There are the cases of Haaland, Mbappé, Vinicius... I don't know, there are many young people.

"Lamine, who is now very young and is already playing in the Barcelona and being important ... will surely be fighting and players breaking out. There are always good players. A very nice stage is coming to enjoy from the outside."