Barcelona New Signing Already Playing Like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo

One of Barcelona’s newest signing is already drawing comparisons with like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Francisco Trincao is a 20-year-old forward from Portugal. He was the joint-top scorer at the European Under-19 Championship in 2018 and is highly expected to provide a further attacking option for Barcelona once the 2020-21 season gets under way. In fact, as early as now, Trincao is already being touted as the next Messi.

To put Trincao’s case into context, Total Football Analysis dug deeper into his game and revealed that generally speaking, the Portuguese youngster really resembles the playing style of a young Messi.

According to the analysis, Trincao, just like Messi, is a highly versatile forward who is most effective when given a free license on either of the flanks. He is, however, “most comfortable as the out-and-out no. 7 over on the right-wing where he can either be a width provider or cut inside to shoot with his preferred left foot.”

Though his feats are still far from the Argentine superstar, the analysis noted that Trincao’s dribbling skills, the 1-on-1 danger he possesses when isolated with the defenders and his creativity and ingenuity in insanely limited spaces do make him fairly similar to Messi.

One room for improvement the analysis found on Trincao’s game is his passing. But based on his overall attributes, the analysis suggests that Trincao could be used as the missing wide man for the Catalans and should he be able to exceed expectations, he may even be used in that Messi role no one has been able to fill in for years.

Aside from being compared to Messi, some in soccer also dubbed Trincao as the next Ronaldo. The comparison came earlier in February when Barcelona first announced that they are signing Trincao in summer.

Before the lockdown, Trincão was enjoying a productive season for Braga, scoring 7 goals and providing 5 assists to date. He also helped Braga win the Portuguese League Cup this season, its first major title since 2016. The silky left-footed forward drew the eye of several of Europe's biggest clubs when he led Portugal's under-19s to victory at the 2018 European Championships, finishing the tournament with the most goals and most assists.

In a recent interview with PortuGOAL, Trincao revealed his thoughts about having the opportunity to play with Messi . According to the youngster, playing with “Leo” is dream come true and he’s already starting to gather information about the club.

“I’m really looking forward to playing with Messi. When the transfer was completed it was an amazing feeling, a dream come true for me. Abel Ruiz has spoken to me glowingly about what I can expect at Barcelona. He’s told me about the players, the city, everything,” Trincao said.