Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and more: When Lionel Messi named 4 future Premier League stars

Lionel Messi is known for his keen eye on the football pitch, but in this article, we take a lookback to the time when the Argentine legend made some good observations off it as well.

In 2021, Messi was asked about young footballers who could go on to become global superstars. He took 15 names, with four of them, at that time, playing in the Premier League. Without futher ado - here are those names - Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount, Phil Foden and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

At the time of these predictions, Pulisic was playing for Chelsea, as was Mount. Both players have since been moved on by the club, with the American winger joining AC Milan, while Mount moved north to play for Manchester United.

Both Pulisic and Mount had disappointing 2022-23 campaigns, with their respective club also performing. The USA international bagged one goal and two assists in 30 games, while Mount had three goals and six assists in 35 games.

Mount is not doing much better at his new club too, registering just one assist in 12 games for the Red Devils this season. Pulisic, meanwhile, has registered seven goals and five assists in 23 games for the Serie A giants this season.

Coming to Phil Foden and Alexander-Arnold, both players have done much better and improved exponentially since Messi's remarks.

Foden is a key player for City, having registered nine goals and eight assists in 29 games this season. He's also a regular for the England national team.

As for Alexander-Arnold, the Liverpool defender was made the vice-captain ahead of the new season and has rewarded the hierarchy's faith. He has registered two goals and eight assists in 24 games across competitions this season, pushing them to the top of the Premier League.

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What did Lionel Messi have to say about the four youngsters?

Speaking about Mason Mount, Messi praised the midfielder and labeled him as 'one of the best' (via SportBible). Messi hailed Pulisic's 'agility' in the same interview.

The Argentine, who had previously faced Alexander-Arnold in the 2018-19 Champions League campaign, lauded the defender's abilities 'going forward' and called him 'the future'.

Messi, who was once coached by Pep Guardiola, Foden's current club manager, predicted the English attacker to 'do amazing things'.