They said he was the new Messi, now he failed and sells clothes to earn some money

Comparisons are almost always negative for anyone when he is with one of the best footballers of all time. That was what happened to the Israeli Gai Assulin, who burst into Barcelona from La Masía in 2008 and was billed as "the new Lionel Messi", but his career was far from being similar to that of La Pulga.

Led by Josep Guardiola, Assulin stood out at Barcelona B and quickly garnered praise from all sides. "He is the most talented player I have ever seen at La Masía," Thiago Alcántara, a player who shared a team with Assulin, was able to say. Comparisons with Messi were not long in coming, since his great quality and movements were similar to those of the Argentine.

“People like to compare in football; it is something that is done often and for me it is a great compliment. Sometimes it's not good if you take it the wrong way, because the expectation is that you go out on the pitch and play the same as Messi all the time. Every team that I went to, they saw the comparisons and thought that I was going to be like him, ”he commented in an interview with The Guardian.

His life today as a salesman

Assulin today varies his days between taking his nine-year-old daughter to school, playing soccer with friends and running a children's clothing store with his partner. Far from feeling that his career is that of a talent that never exploded, the Israeli accepts what he had to go through and enjoyed the process he had at Barcelona.