As Lamine Yamal has won the last two Kopa Trophies, he is regarded as the best young player in the world. The Kopa Trophy is the award given to the top-performing player under the age of 21. Yamal was also runner-up to Ousmane Dembele for the Ballon d'Or this year.
Had it not been for Dembele's exploits in helping Paris Saint-Germain to win the Champions League, Yamal may have won the most prestigious individual award in soccer. The Barcelona player is only 18, so he will have many more opportunities to win the Ballon d'Or.
As Yamal is so young and talented, it means that his value is astronomical. CIES has valued the top teenage soccer players, with Yamal topping the chart at £308 million. Next on the list is Chelsea's Estêvão, at a figure of £104 million.
Other notable players ranked are Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis Skelly. Real Madrid also has two players in Franco Mastantuono and Endrick. Barca have not just Yamal, but Pau Cubarsi too.
Lamine Yamal and Estêvão are very similar players
Yamal was nurtured at Barcelona's La Masia academy before making his first team debut at the age of just 15. The winger has already won La Liga twice, the Copa del Rey, and the Supercopa de España. Yamal has played over 100 times for Barca and has 23 caps for Spain. With his national team, Yamal has won the European Championship, where he was the young player of the tournament in 2024.
As for Estêvão, he played youth soccer for Cruzeiro before transferring to Palmeiras. He played his first senior game for Palmeiras at just 16. He would play 83 times for Palmeiras, winning the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and the Campeonato Paulista.
The Brazilian would star for Palmeiras at the Club World Cup, where, in a twist of fate, he would score against his future side, Chelsea. Estêvão would join the Premier League side following the tournament last summer.
He has already adapted to life in English soccer, scoring four goals, with one assist in 15 games for Chelsea. The 18-year-old already has nine caps for Brazil, where he has scored three times. It is still early days for Estêvão, but he could one day be rivaling Yamal for the Ballon d'Or trophy. They are both easy to compare, as they are the same age and both favor playing as a right winger.