MLS expert Matt Doyle has suggested that Lionel Messi ‘loves’ playing with one 19-year-old prospect at Inter Miami.
The Herons have one of the strangest squad compositions in all of MLS, with Inter Miami’s superstar players in Messi, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets all 35-years-old plus, whilst a good chunk of the team is made up of youngsters.
David Ruiz, Diego Gomez and Leonardo Campana are just a handful of players aged 23 and under who are regulars for Inter Miami, with 20-year-old defender Tomas Aviles another youngster who is often named in the starting XI.
Yet one Inter Miami prospect has seemingly caught the attention and affection of Messi already.
Messi a big fan of Inter Miami teenager Benjamin Cremaschi
Speaking on MLS’s Extratime podcast, Doyle revealed that Messi is ‘apparently’ a big fan of 19-year-old midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, who on Saturday scored his first goal of the season away to the New England Revolution.
With Cremaschi reportedly in contention for Argentina’s Olympic squad, it’s no real surprise that Messi is a fan of the midfielder, who in the coming weeks could become a key clog for Inter Miami in their pre-summer playoff push.
Doyle said when asked about Cremaschi’s impact in Inter Miami’s first-team: “I didn’t necessarily see it with Cremaschi last year, he’s a nice player but it felt like I was missing something.
“Then he comes right into the team after finally getting fit, and you can see he’s making all the little connective-tissue plays around the box that make you go ‘oh yeah, this is what Tata is seeing, this is what Messi’s seeing,’ Messi apparently loves the kid.”
Cremaschi has what it takes to become a superstar in MLS
Despite playing just a handful of games this season after returning from a lengthy injury layoff, Cremaschi has already shown enough this year to suggest he can go far with Inter Miami.
At 19, Cremaschi has the world at his feet and is showing the potential needed that could one day secure the midfielder a big-money move to Europe in the 18 to 24 months.
Indeed, Cremaschi has all the tools required to become a real star in MLS with Inter Miami, and the Herons know that they have a potential gem on their hands in the USA international.