Cristiano Ronaldo Names Portuguese Teammate As Lionel Messi's Possible Successor At Barca

Cristiano Ronaldo has named his Portuguese teammate Joao Felix to be the successor of FC Barcelona ace Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo, who scored his career's 700th goal during Portugal's Euro Qualifier match against Ukraine on Monday, has insisted the teenage forward is capable to fill in Messi's shoes in the long run.

Felix was one of the substitutes in Portugal's side that lost 2-1 to Ukraine at the NSC Olimiysky Sports Complex, Kyiv. The young soccer player was signed by Atletico Madrid from Benfica this summer for a sum of approximately $150 million, at about the same time when Antoine Griezmann joined Barcelona from Atletico Madrid for about the same price.

With three goals in 10 appearances, Felix is the leading goal-scorer for Los Rojiblancos so far this season. Out of Felix's three goals, one came in the Championships League and two in the La Liga, where Atletico are third on the points table behind leaders Real Madrid and Barcelona.

On the other hand, Messi has had a slow start to the season, losing out on the first few matches due to injury.

However, his comeback has been a strong one. He starred in Barca's 2-1 victory against Inter Milan in the Champions League before he scored a stunning free-kick as Barcelona completed a 4-0 victory against Sevilla in the La Liga.

The Argentine great has hinted at possible retirement post-FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. So far, Messi has said he will go on to play at least till the upcoming World Cup so one could expect the big announcement at the end of the multi-nation tournament as the star forward would be 36, while Felix would be 23 and most definitely at his prime.