Lionel Messi Says Rival Club's 21-Year-Old Midfielder Has Potential To Become 'One Of The Best'

Lionel Messi, one of the greatest players to have played soccer, has suggested Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount will become “one of the best” in the future.

Mount, who has been associated with Chelsea since he was six, was handed a four-year contract in 2017. However, he was sent off on a season-long loan to the Dutch club Vitesse, where he scored 14 goals in 39 appearances. The youngster then moved to UK’s Championship side, Derby County, where he produced an impressive performance (11 goals in 44 games) under the management of the Chelsea icon, Frank Lampard.

When Lampard moved to Chelsea as their head coach, he brought along 21-year-old Mount too, who went on to make his first-team debut for Chelsea during the 2019-20 season.

Messi, who has netted over 600 goals in his club career so far, has tipped Mount to become one of the best players in the world of soccer, which has seen the likes of Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, and Brazil’s Ronaldo to name a few superstars.

“Having watched him play he has the potential to be one of the best,” the Barcelona skipper told a Spanish radio station recently, as reported by Daily Mail.

Even Former Everton midfielder Tim Cahill has heaped praise on the young English midfielder going a few games into his first Premier League season.

“I like the look of Mason Mount. I think he’s a top goalscorer and he’s got a massive career ahead of him. One of the reasons why I like him a lot is because of his coach [Frank Lampard] and the way that he’s trying to mold a player similar to himself.

He can lead him and show him the right ways. You can see that starting to come to fruition with his football this season. I’m a big fan,” Cahill told Sky Sports.

Before the Premier League’s current campaign was halted in March, Mount already had six goals under his belt for Chelsea from 41 matches across tournaments.