Since Lionel Messi burst onto the scene and took over the world at Catalan giants Barcelona, there's been no dearth of claimants to this throne. The 28-year old "Atomic Flea" was a teenage wonderkid – as footage from the archives reveals – and videos regularly pop up of young football prodigies, with monikers such as "the next Messi".
Among the more famous of them is an 11-year old Romanian boy by the name of Pietro Tomaselli. His current club AS Roma, located in the Italian capital, snapped him up from Anderlecht after being blown away by YouTube videos of his skills when he was nine. And take one look at the video above and you'll be mind-blown too.
Closer home to Messi's Argentina, a ten-year old has been nicknamed the "Snow Messi". Claudio Nancufil draws comparisons with Messi not only because of his short stature but also because of his skills with the ball. Just before the 2014 World Cup, there was much speculation that some of the world's biggest clubs, including Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Madrid were trying to sign him on.
But even these two have nothing on Almedin Brkic. A video featuring this purported five-year old showing off his mind-boggling skills in 2014 ratcheted up almost 9.1 million views and set social media on fire.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!