Casemiro names four players who could be 'heirs' to Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi

The Brazilian feels these players can reach Ronaldo and Messi’s level.

Four players have been identified by Casemiro as the “heirs” to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s thrones.

The 32-year-old midfielder for Manchester United played a key role in Real Madrid’s historic run of five Champions League wins in eight years. There, he shook hands with a number of true football legends, including Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, and Ronaldo.

However, if Casemiro’s forecast proves accurate, Los Blancos’ current crop of players could become equally famous. In an interview with Diario AS, the Brazilian predicted that Kylian Mbappe will become the world’s finest player at the Bernabeu and that three of his teammates might follow in his footsteps.

“He [Mbappe] is one of those players that when you play against them you don’t know how to stop him. He’s not [on top of] the podium yet, but he’ll get there,” Casemiro said. “He’s the heir to [Messi and Ronaldo], along with Vinicius Jr, who continues to grow and improve in every game, Rodrygo, and Fede Valverde.”

Mbappe, who joined the team from PSG last summer, needed a few weeks to get used to his new No. 9 role. However, after scoring 27 goals (and counting) in all competitions, the 26-year-old Frenchman has since silenced his sceptics.

After his treble against Manchester City on Wednesday, it made him just the fourth Real Madrid player to rack up a hat-trick in a Champions League knockout match, behind Ronaldo Nazario, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, and Benzema.

For a number of years, Vinicius has been considered one of Europe’s best strikers, and in October, he came very close to winning the Ballon d’Or. The 24-year-old only needs three more goals this season to reach the 20-goal mark, something he has done in each of the last four seasons.

Despite without the star power of Mbappe, Vinicius, or Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, 24, and Valverde, 26, are unquestionably important at the Bernabeu. Both have been mainstays in the first squad for more than six years and many people, including Casemiro, think they are the ones who truly make Real Madrid work.

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