The 19-year-old has enjoyed an outrageous rise for club and country since 2023 - winning two LaLiga titles with Barca - plus a UEFA European Championship and FIFA World Cup with Spain.

62 goals in 167 club games - alongside 37 assists in LaLiga alone - shows his level amid ongoing comparisons to legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Lamine Yamal is widely viewed to be ahead of the pair for his age, based on their respective later development at Manchester United and Barcelona, but Gerrard feels he's ready for another level.

"He's the one player I would say who potentially has that level, if he continues to evolve.

"Mbappe and Haaland are around there, in terms of being in their prime years right now, but it seems to me that Lamine is one who's just a bit above that.

"The biggest challenge for him - and those around him at Barcelona - is how do they keep him hungry?

"In terms of talent and potential, he's doing things on a football pitch that I've never seen a 19-year-old do.

"He's more advanced than Ronaldo was at 19. I played against Messi as a youngster, and he's probably more advanced than he was too.

"But, is he going to have the consistency which they both had? Can he get the goals they did - and will he evolve into a No.9?"