Almada has been linked with a move to north London - but would have to go some way to emulate Barcelona great Lionel Messi

For several years after his retirement, Argentine football pined for an heir to Diego Maradona.
There were several pretenders to the little genius’ crown: Ariel Ortega, Juan Roman Riquelme, Pablo Aimar, Javier Saviola and many others were given the moniker of ‘New Diego’ by the press after their emergence.

All were fine players in their own right but they couldn’t truly compare to Maradona. Then came Lionel Messi.
Debate will rage on for decades as to who is the better of the two. What is beyond doubt, however, is that Messi is one of the greatest to have ever played the game.
He is also the yardstick for emerging young players across the globe to be measured against - it’s perhaps why almost every country seemingly possesses the ‘New Messi’ .
Argentina is no different. So meet Thiago Almada, the 19-year-old who is tipped to emulate the Barcelona star and has reportedly attracted interest from Arsenal, according to Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo .
Raised in Fuerte Apache, one of the most deprived barrios in greater Buenos Aires and previously home to Carlos Tevez, Almada’s footballing talent was evident from a young age.
At just four years old he played for Santa Clara, the same local club at which Tevez took his formative steps in the game, and at five he was signed by Velez.
“In the neighborhood there are a lot of people who take the wrong path,” he admitted in a 2017 interview with Clarin . “It is one way or the other, and I also had to choose.”
Almada effortlessly rose through the youth ranks at Velez; his impish skill honed for the professional game.
In August 2018, shortly after his 17th birthday, Almada was handed his senior debut by former Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze. He went on to make 16 appearances in his debut campaign, scoring three goals, two of which came against Defensa in his first start.
His performances resulted in Argentina calling him up to their Under-20 squad for the South American Championships. The Albiceleste finished second to Ecuador but Almada was their standout performer despite being the youngest member of the side.
And in the last Superliga season, which ended in March, Almada made a further 22 appearances for Velez.
Almada’s childhood idol may have somewhat unsurprisingly been Tevez but stylistically he is similar to Messi.
At 5ft 7ins he has the same low centre of gravity as the Barcelona No.10 while his dribbling ability and acceleration ensures he can escape from the tightest of spaces.
Who is interested?
Manchester City were strongly linked last summer and made a reported offer of £10m to sign the youngster. However, Velez demanded closer to £16million and were able to keep Almada at the club.
In September he signed a four-year contract which contains a £22million release clause. It’s a figure that won’t scare off Europe’s biggest sides from making a move and in addition to Arsenal, Manchester United and Inter Milan have been linked with the 19-year-old.
And Pablo Cavallero, Velez’s technical secretary, admitted there have been enquiries for Almada but added there haven’t been any firm offers made.
Speaking to TNT Sports, he said: “Yes, there are calls. We have received some from club intermediaries, but they are only questions. The difficulty [of selling] or not depends on the offers that come in when the market opens.”