It is the most loaded question in football: who inherits the Messi role for Argentina? Lionel Scaloni is openly searching for the answer, and the honest truth is that there isn't one name — there's a field. The post-Messi era won't lean on a single genius the way Qatar did; the No. 10's gifts are splitting across a new generation, each carrying a different piece of what made him untouchable.
Here are the real contenders — and the case for each. For the full picture, see our list of Argentina's best young players.
Claudio Echeverri — the one they actually call "the new Messi"
The label was hung on him early, and the close control is why.
No Argentine prospect has carried the "new Lionel Messi" tag as openly as Echeverri. Manchester City won the race for him with an initial fee around £12.5m, fending off Barcelona — and you can see the comparison in the way he glides through contact with the ball glued to his left foot. Now on loan at Girona, he is doing the unglamorous work of turning a label into a level. Of all the candidates, his game most resembles Messi's signature trait: the dribble that breaks a low block on its own.
Franco Mastantuono — the creator Madrid bet the house on
If Echeverri is the dribbler, Mastantuono is the brain.
Real Madrid did not pay a record Argentine fee for a highlight reel — they bought vision, passing range and a tactical maturity that is rare at 18. He is already scoring in the Champions League, and his game maps onto the playmaking half of Messi's legacy: the player who sets the tempo and unlocks a defence with a pass rather than a run. The creative inheritance may be his.
Nico Paz — Scaloni's pick, the purest No. 10
The one actually playing the Messi role, week in and week out.
Scaloni talks about him for a reason. At Como, Nico Paz is the team — the deep-lying creator who drops to collect, dictates rhythm and carries the goal threat, posting double figures for goals from midfield. Real Madrid valued him so highly they kept a buy-back worth tens of millions when he stayed at Como. If the "Messi role" means one footballer running a side from the half-spaces, Paz is the closest thing Argentina currently have.
The dribbler
- Trait: Close control to beat a low block
- Club: Manchester City (on loan at Girona)
- Messi parallel: The unstoppable carry
- Stage now: Proving it on loan
The creator
- Trait: Vision and passing range
- Club: Real Madrid
- Messi parallel: The defence-splitting pass
- Stage now: Scoring in the Champions League
The verdict: there is no single heir. Messi's role is being inherited by committee — a dribbler (Echeverri), a creator (Mastantuono) and a conductor (Nico Paz), with Thiago Almada in the conversation too. Argentina's strength in the post-Messi era isn't one successor; it's that they no longer need just one.
Quick reference
Who is called Argentina's next Messi?
Claudio Echeverri has carried the label most openly, but Franco Mastantuono and Nico Paz are also strong contenders.
Where does Echeverri play?
He is a Manchester City player, currently on loan at Girona.
Who does Scaloni favour as Messi's successor?
He has spoken highly of Nico Paz and Franco Mastantuono.
Will there be a single "next Messi"?
Unlikely — Argentina's depth means the role is being shared across several players rather than one.
The search for the next Messi will never really end — no one replaces a player like that. But Argentina's good fortune is that they no longer have to. Between Echeverri's dribble, Mastantuono's vision and Nico Paz's conducting, the inheritance is already being split three ways — and that might be the most dangerous answer of all.
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