The 5️⃣ players who could be the next Messi or Ronaldo | OneFootball

The era of Lionel Messi’s and Cristiano Ronaldo’s dominance is coming to an end.

But who will pick up the baton and become the Ballon d’Or winners of the future?

Here are five candidates under the age of 23 with the potential for greatness.

Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen)

Havertz caught the eye with a sensational 2018/19 campaign in which he notched up 20 goals and seven assists in all competitions for Leverkusen.

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder is two-footed, a good dribbler and great at scoring goals when arriving late into the penalty area.

The Germany international will continue his development at the BayArena for the rest of this season but he’s likely to be one of next summer’s hottest properties in the transfer market.

Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)

After moving to Real Madrid from Flamengo in a deal worth €45m, Vinícius impressed in his debut season at the Bernabéu and doesn’t look too far away from being the finished article.

The Brazilian has naturally drawn comparisons with his compatriot Neymar but his playing style also brings to mind a young Ronaldo.

He is strong, quick, tricky and creative with a great eye for goal.

His time at Madrid has so far yielded three goals and 12 assists in 32 senior appearances.

Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)

He may only be 19 but Sancho is already one of the best players in the Bundesliga and one of the most exciting talents England has produced in years.

The winger has 16 goals and 25 assists in 58 senior appearances for Dortmund so far and he has started the new season in fine form.

Sancho is a flamboyant but effective dribbler who is great at delivering crosses from wide areas and can be extremely difficult to dispossess.

Barring a catastrophe, he will surely be one of the stars of the next decade.

João Félix (Atlético Madrid)

Félix has so far played just 66 minutes of competitive football for Atlético yet he’s already demonstrated why they paid €126m to sign him from Benfica this summer.

The 19-year-old has been compared to his fellow countryman Ronaldo yet he has the same build and low centre of gravity as Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona.

Getting the ball off him is much harder than it looks and he knows where the net is too. In 43 games for Benfica he managed 20 goals and 11 assists.

Atleti paid a lot of money for him but talents like this don’t come along every day.

Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain)

Having already won the World Cup, three Ligue 1 titles and the 2017 Golden Boy award at the tender age of 20, there could only be one more name on this list.

Mbappé is already a world-class player and it could be argued he has moved ahead of PSG team-mate Neymar and sits just behind Messi and Ronaldo in the ranking of current super stars.

Not only does he already have a better collection of medals than most players rack up in their entire careers, he also already has 122 senior goals for club and country to his name.

It’s only a matter of time before those Ballons d’Or start rolling in too.