'Austrian Messi' has all the talent to succeed at Barca, claims club legend

Stefan Bienkowski

• 17 Sept 2021 15:58 BST
• 5 min read

Former Barcelona striker Hans Krankl believes the club’s young prospect Yusuf Demir has all the talent to live up to his “Austrian Messi” nickname.

Demir made the move to Barcelona in the summer of 2020 on an initial loan, with the option to make the deal permanent for €10 million.

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However, after initially being registered for the club’s reserves, high-profile departures from the club like Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezzman then saw the young Austrian talent get promoted to Ronald Koeman’s first team.

Demir has since found himself become a useful option from the bench, having been brought on against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and Athletic in La Liga.

Yet at 18 years of age, the Vienna-born talent still has some way to go before he can nail down a starting role for the Spanish giants.

But for Krankl, who scored 34 goals in 46 games for the Catalan side as a player, Demir has all the talent to succeed at Barcelona.

'He has the talent for it and is very advanced'

“That is wonderful for the young lad. Barcelona have recognized his great talent, “said the former Barca star in an interview with Sport-Bild.

“Yusuf can only learn there, learn, learn from the very good players and then we’ll see if he becomes a great player.

“He has the talent for it and is very advanced for his age. But he has to get stronger physically.

“Yusuf did not play regularly for the Rapid Wien professionals from the start, but was often only substituted on. He has to get to know adult football a lot better in Spain.”

Could Demir have a big impact this season?

Although Koeman seems confident enough in Demir’s talents to use him as a substitute, it may be some time before the young Austrian talent can push for a starting role at the club.

Although the club did lose some notable forward players, they also signed Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Luuk de Jong. And already have impressive wide players in the form of Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele.

If Demir is to make a name for himself in Spain, he’ll have to find a way to elbow his way past those stars and start scoring or creating goals.