Where are they now? - Players who were dubbed 'The Next Ronaldo'
It’s fair to say that the last 15 years of European football has seen Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi climb to the apex of the beautiful game.
The pair have been unstoppable, retaining their status as the world’s best season upon season.
With that status comes a persistent desire for the football media and fans alike to search frantically for youngsters who could one day fill their shoes.
Many starlets likened to the elite have fallen by the wayside.
However, many have carved out a successful career.
Here, we take a look at some of the players labelled ‘the next Ronaldo’ who have actually gone on to some level of success (though nowhere close to their somewhat unfair title).
Bruma
Age: 27
Current club: PSV Eindhoven
Guinea-Bissau born winger Bruma was likened to CR7 very early in his career.
The attacker moved to Portugal as a child and joined the same academy at Sporting CP where the Juventus star cut his teeth.
Bruma’s remarkable performances for Sporting’s youth teams and for Portugal’s under-19s earned him a surprise €10million switch to Turkey with Galatasaray.
He failed to play during a loan spell at Gaziantepspor and, having arrived back at his parent club, he only netted once in his first full season.
A loan move to Real Sociedad followed but Bruma didn’t quite make his mark.
However, his best and final season with Galatasaray came in 2016-17. He scored 11 goals in 30 appearances for the Istanbul side.
This campaign saw him snapped up by newly-rich German outfit RB Leipzig where he would become a useful squad player across two seasons.
Ahead of 2019-20, the Portuguese was moved on to PSV Eindhoven and has so far scored three in 13 before the involuntary break.
Lucas Ocampos
Age: 25
Current club: Sevilla
Born in Quilmes in Argentina’s capital of Buenos Aires, Lucas Ocampos quickly began making his name for his boyhood club at youth level and later moved on to River Plate.
As a young Argentine, many compared Ocampos to compatriot Lionel Messi. However, his height and build is much more resemblant to Ronaldo. Plus, Ocampos has admitted to imitating him in his early career.
Impressive performances in his homeland led him to Monaco, then a Ligue 2 side, in 2012.
He was given minutes straight away but, all-in-all, struggled to maintain a place in the starting line-up and found himself on loan in Marseille.
It was much the same in the south-east.
Some seasons, Ocampos played an important role as a cog in Marseille’s side but a general lack of consistency saw him switch to Italy to play for Genoa and Milan on loan.
Both spells ended with mixed results.
His return to Marseille saw him establish himself as a first-team regular for the following two seasons. The Argentine played a large part in helping OM to the 2018 Europa League final, inevitably losing 3-0 to Atletico Madrid.
In 2019, Lucas Ocampos signed a five-year deal with Sevilla and has had the best season of his career in Spain.
He has scored 10 goals in 22 games; his first double-figure campaign of his senior career.
Anthony Martial
Age: 24
Current club: Manchester United
Emerging from Les Ulis, the same academy which spawned Thierry Henry and Patrice Evra, French forward Anthony Martial’s potential became evident during his time with Lyon.
Netting five in 11 for Lyon’s B team, the Massy-born star moved to rivals Monaco where he continued to catch attention.
The 2014-15 campaign was what led to his mega move.
The Frenchman scored nine and assisted four in 35 games for Monaco, having only just reached the end of his teenage years.
A big-money move to Ronaldo’s former club, Manchester United followed.
Martial’s career at United has been stop-start but he seems to be finally finding his feet under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Having been linked with moves away, it appears the Frenchman is now comfortable and can be optimistic about the next few seasons in a potentially resurgent United side.
Diogo Jota
Age: 23
Current club: Wolverhampton Wanderers
It’s no secret that Wolves have used super-agent Jorge Mendes to acquire what seems like most of Portugal’s international squad.
Stars such as Rui Patricio and the veteran midfielder Joao Moutinho have proven more than effective under Nuno Espirito Santo.
However, Diogo Jota was perhaps the savviest signing of all.
Impressing as a teenager with Pacos Ferreira in his home country, Jota signed a five-year contract with Atletico Madrid in 2016 and was immediately loaned back to Portugal with giants Porto.
Jota netted a hat-trick for Porto and played regular first-team football across the campaign.
This made it all the more surprising when, the following season, he was loaned to Championship outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Their ties with agent Jorge Mendes, who represent Ronaldo, caused many a Championship chairman to scratch his or her chin and gave rise to suspicion across the European game.
However, Jota played a starring role in Wolves’ return to the top-flight and has been a mainstay in their starting XI ever since.
At just 23, Jota has the world at his feet and has been linked with a number of big clubs.
Article by: George Hartley
Thumbnail by: Samuel Slaney
Images interpreted from: Getty Images