Lionel Messi: The 17 players tipped to be the 'new Messi' - where are they now?

Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest player of all time.

The Argentine has dominated football ever since his Barcelona debut in October 2004.

The sport will be a strange place without him.

Who could possibly replace Messi?

The answer is nobody. However because we’re all desperate for Messi to stay in our lives forever, fans have often dubbed talented youngsters as ‘the next Messi.’

But being given such a label comes with huge amount of pressure and many crumble under that.

So, what has happened to those players touted to follow in Messi’s footsteps?

Well, last year, Twitter user @CheGiaevara created a brilliant thread looking at the 17 players tipped to be the next Messi. But what has happened to them since? Let’s take a look:

*THREAD*Wanted to this one for a while. The term "the new Maradona" haunted several footballers for years and years. But what about "the new Messi"? What happened to the players that were dubbed their heir to the Argentinian legend? Let's have a look! pic.twitter.com/f1K7hADosD

Bojan actually broke Messi’s record of being the youngest player to play for Barcelona. He had spells at Roma, Milan and Stoke but is now in Japan at the age of 31.

Assulin also came through La Masia at Barcelona but didn’t get many first-team opportunities at Camp Nou or Manchester City, who he joined afterwards. He was last seen playing in Serie D – Italy’s fourth tier with Crema. He’s now 31 and without a club.

Signed by Barcelona from Dinamo Zagreb, Halilovic was destined for greatness. It didn’t work out and now, aged just 25, he’s at Reading in the Championship having played for Birmingham previously.

One of the most successful players in this list having played his entire career at Bilbao – the club he now captains.