Three 'Next Messi's who have failed to shine

Bengaluru, June 22: Players like Lionel Messi come once in a generation.

The Argentine maestro is regarded as one of the greatest players to have ever graced the game and it's therefore quite natural to see many talented young players being compared to the iconic left-footer, especially those who boast a gifted left-foot and have a number of similarities to the Barcelona legend in their game.

We have seen numerous players dubbed as the 'Next Messi' but very few of them have managed to make a name for themselves at the top.

For instance, Liverpool duo Xherdan Shaqiri and Mohamed Salah, who were hailed as 'Alpine Messi' and 'Egyptian Messi' respectively, have made a name for themselves in their own right but there are very few examples like them. Most of the gifted youngsters, who have been likened to the Argentine superstar, have struggled to cope with such a huge comparison and here, we will take a look at three of them.

Patrick Roberts - The English Messi

Once regarded as one the biggest talents in England, Patrick Roberts earned his nickname of 'The English Messi' after he burst on to the scene as a teenager at Fulham. Almost every top club in England was interested in signing the fleet-footed and naturally gifted attacking midfielder and it was Manchester City who finally won the race.

After five years of signing for the Cityzens, he has just featured thrice for the Sky Blues till date and has been loaned out season after season and apart from his loan spell with Celtic, none of the other three has worked out for him. At 23 years of age, Roberts seems to be a forgotten name although he still has age on his side to make up for his lost time.

Ryan Gauld - The Scottish Messi

Ryan Gauld was hailed as the 'Scottish Messi' from a very young age thanks to his impressive technical abilities and physical stature comparable to that of the Barcelona superstar. He was just 17 years of age when he made his debut for Dundee United and began tearing it up in Scotland, helping The Terrors reach the Scottish Cup final in 2014.

After being shortlisted for Young Player of the Year, Gauld was snapped up by Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon despite interest from the biggest clubs in England as well as in Scotland. However, his time in Portugal has been far from impressive as he could only make two league appearances for Sporting, all in 2014 and early 2015, and went on four unsuccessful loan spells. Now at Portuguese second tier side Farense at the age of 24, there is no denying the fact that Gauld is another talent who has failed to live up to his potential.

Marko Marin - The German Messi

Extremely talented German playmaker Marko Marin was not particularly a failure earlier in his career and even became a regular for the German national team.

Joachim Low doesn't have shortage of quality at his disposal. The attacking midfielder, who could also feature on the flanks, was one of the stellar performers in Bundesliga for clubs like Borussia Mönchengladbach and Werder Bremen.

He made his big move to Chelsea in 2012 alongside several other high-profile signings including Eden Hazard. However, he was never given a fair chance to impress at Stamford Bridge and was sent on four loan spells in three seasons having managed just six Premier League games in West London. Now at Al-Ahli, Marin is 31 years of age now and will probably look back at his career with nothing but regret.