Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has told ESPN that while Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé are “incredible,” he believes Michael Owen was a better player as a teenager.
Barcelona’s 18-year-old star Yamal is among the favourites to collect this year’s Ballon d’Or and would become the youngest winner in history should he pick up the prestigious award. Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or as a 21-year-old in 1997.
Mbappe, now 26, is also among the nominees to win this year’s award.
Gerrard and Owen were teammates at Liverpool for six years before Owen left for Real Madrid in 2004.
“Well, the other two are chasing the Ballon d’Or and one’s got one. So I think you’d have to respect the fact that Michael Owen has been voted the best player in the world,” Gerrard told ESPN at the launch of the new Topps Premier League 2025-26 trading card collection.
“I played with him. He was an incredible teenager. So I’d have to say Michael Owen [as the best]. But what I would say is: Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, wow, they’re two incredible players.”
Owen, who made his debut as a 17-year-old in 1996, has scored the most goals by a teenager in Premier League history — he netted 40 in 79 matches before turning 20 in 1999.
He also holds the record for the most Premier League goals scored by a teenager in a single calendar year thanks to the 25 he managed in 1998.
Owen helped Liverpool win the League Cup, FA Cup and Carabao Cup in 2000-01 and, at the age of 22, became the first Englishman to be awarded the Ballon d’Or since Kevin Keegan in 1979.
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Yamal has scored 14 goals and contributed 22 assists in all competitions since making his Barcelona debut at the age of 15 in 2023.
Mbappé helped inspire France to World Cup glory as a 19-year-old in 2018. His goal in the 4-2 win over Croatia in the final saw him become the youngest scorer in a World Cup final since Pelé.
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