He was called the New Lionel Messi, he made his debut for Barcelona with Guardiola and now moved to Italian Serie D

Not everybody can handle the pressure of being considered “The New Messi”. It’s never simple to have all the eyes pointing at you, and millions of people expecting you to replicate the magic of one of the best soccer players ever, if not the best. When Pep Guardiola was coaching FC Barcelona, the Argentinian was at his peak (when has he not?).

But during his wonderful years in Barcelona, Guardiola saw a successor, and he praised him alot. He had said there were almost no soccer players like him. To find players like him, who accelerate, and dribble with their pace was very difficult, according to the experienced coach. But he was sure that this young boy would be a star.

By that moment his debut in the first team would later see him back to the Reserve side Barcelona B, and back in the first team. That was understood from the start. But it took longer for him to be back. Apart from that, the coach said he had time to develop. But for some reason, despite having a release clause of $24 million (quite high in that moment), Israel’s Gai Assulin never made it to the top again.

 After having his debut on October 28, 2009, playing against Cultural Leonesa for the Copa del Rey, 18-year-old Assulin struggled to remain in the team. He was loaned to Manchester City, later to Brighton and Hove Albion, and then started surfing through Spain’s second division, Kazakhstan and Romanian leagues. Now he will play for AC Crema 1908 in the Italian Serie D. He played his sole game in the Israeli national team before turning 17 years old, against Chile in 2008.