Top five: Lionel Messi replacements

Lionel Messi's future successor at Barcelona has apparently been discovered, at least that is according to the president of Lille, who claims he knows the identity of the Argentine's replacement.

According to Michel Seydoux, Chelsea's Eden Hazard is the man with the tools at his disposal to oust Messi at the Nou Camp, and believes the 21-year-old is destined to move to Barcelona.

"I made a bet with people. The bet was that Hazard would play for Barcelona," Seydoux told L'Equipe. "He is a phenomenon and one day he will replace Lionel Messi in the Barca team."

Hazard is undoubtedly destined for greatness, but does he really have the attributes to replace arguably the finest player to have ever played the game? Time will tell.

But Seydoux's comments have prompted GMF to take a look at some young upstarts who could eventually fill Messi's boots...

Neymar

Age: 20. Team: Santos

 

Mario Gotze

Age: 20. Team: Borussia Dortmund

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Age: 19. Team: Arsenal

Cristian Tello

Age: 21. Team: Barcelona

...and Eden Hazard, of course

Age: 21. Team: Chelsea