In Barcelona, where the academy has long measured promise against an extraordinary past, Javier Saviola has recalled the first time he saw Lionel Messi at La Masia — and the immediate sense that the teenager was unlike anyone around him.
The former Argentina forward said Carles Rexach had urged him to watch Messi, telling him that the young player was completely different from the rest. Saviola, who spent six seasons under contract at Barcelona during his own career, said the description quickly made sense once he saw him play.
“He was doing things the others could not do, even though he was so young,” Saviola said. “I went home and told my family that we were in the hands of a child. If he continued that way, he would go very far.”
A talent visible at La Masia
Saviola described Barcelona’s youth system as a place regularly filled with gifted players, but said standing out within that environment was itself evidence of a rare quality.
He said Rexach’s assessment proved correct. In Messi, Saviola saw a player endowed with unusual natural ability, citing the speed of his football, his dribbling, his willingness to demand possession and his remarkable intelligence.
“At La Masia, I saw something I had never witnessed before,” Saviola said of Messi. “The pace of his game, his ability to beat players, the personality to ask for the ball and an incredible intelligence were all there.”
Messi went on to become Barcelona’s defining modern figure, winning every major club honour during his first-team years and building a career that has placed him among football’s most decorated players.
Saviola urges patience with Lamine Yamal
The former Argentina international also addressed Lamine Yamal, the current Barcelona forward whose emergence has revived familiar conversations around teenage talent at the club.
Saviola believes Yamal is progressing towards the highest level but warned against placing excessive expectations on a player still at the start of his senior career.
“Lamine is only beginning his journey and we should not put too much pressure on him,” he said. “He is on the right path to becoming one of the best players in the world.”
He stressed that Messi and Yamal should not be judged through direct comparison. Messi, Saviola said, has already secured his place in football history, while Yamal’s future remains open.
“They are different players, so comparisons should be avoided,” Saviola added. “We cannot know how far Lamine will go, but he can be a leading figure for many years.”
