Confidence, thy name is Evra: I would eat Yamal alive - ask CR7 and Messi!

When people speculate about who could be the biggest star at the upcoming World Cup, Lamine Yamal's name is unavoidable, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland...

However, the Spanish teenager apparently hasn't amazed everyone - and by that, we mean Patrice Evra, who hasn’t been impressed enough to admit Yamal would have been better than him at his peak.

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The former Manchester United defender spoke to ESPN UK about the tournament in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, and touched on the 18-year-old, and made a confident claim about a hypothetical duel between the two.

"I'm sorry Lamine, I love you a lot, I like you a lot, you're a star in one-on-one situations, but in my prime I'd eat you alive."

"Ask Cristiano Ronaldo , ask Messi , ask other players when they faced me. I'm not a good friend," said Evra via Mundo Deportivo.

Now, the former defender certainly has the credibility to speak with such confidence, as he won five Premier League titles, played four Champions League finals (and triumphed once), and was the 2016 European Championship runner-up with France.

At the same time, it's easy for him to say, given that a duel between his prime self and Yamal will never happen.

If anything, the Spaniard will take another confidence boost ahead of the World Cup, where he could again prove his class and further establish himself as one of the best players in football at the moment.