What happened to the 10 players Lionel Messi said were destined for stardom in 2015

Lionel Messi picked out 10 footballers he believed would go on to achieve greatness back in 2015. The Argentinian great will go down in the annals of history for his endless list of achievements on the pitch for , and .

He's racked up 12 league titles, 17 domestic cups, four , a World Cup, and eight through his illustrious career. And while he's able to read the game like no other, he isn't exactly the best at predicting the long-term future – if his predictions from a decade ago are anything to go by.

Back in 2015, Messi teamed up with for the 'Backed by Messi' campaign, in which he selected a top 10 list of players who he believed would take it to the next level and potentially be on a similar career path to him in the years to come. And while some have gone on to lift the and achieve honours with their respective homelands, others have failed to live up to expectations set by the now 37-year-old.

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Here's the names that he picked, and how their careers have panned out over the last 10 years...

Kenedy

Kenedy was playing for Fluminese at the time of Messi's selection, breaking through as an exciting left winger with immense levels of trickery. And while he secured a £6.3million move to that year, he never managed to quite make a name for himself in the English top flight.

The Brazilian managed just 30 games for the Blues over the course of his seven-year tenure at Stamford Bridge, instead enjoying loan spells with , , Getafe, Grenada, and , before moving on to Valladolid in 2022. Now 29, Kenedy has scored just two goals and made one assist in 44 outings for the side, who will play the 2025/26 campaign in 2 after a rock bottom finish in the Spanish top flight this season.

Aleksei Miranchuk

Aleksei Miranchuk was two years into a seven-year stint with Lokomotiv Moscow when he drew the attention of Messi. A promising attacking midfielder, the 29-year-old excelled in his homeland, with 43 goals and 46 assists in 228 outings.

A move to Serie A side Atalanta ensued in 2020, before a transfer to MLS outfit Atlanta landed four years later, where the Russian continues to ply his trade. The Georgians enjoyed a ninth-place finish in the league last season, and currently sit 12 in the Eastern Conference in 2025 with ten games played thus far.

James Wilson

Messi had high hopes that James Wilson would follow in the footsteps of the likes of , , Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs in graduating through the academy and becoming a world-class player. However, fate had other plans for the 29-year-old.

Wilson spent five years with the Red Devils between 2014 and 2019, but made just 20 appearances for the first team in total – instead spending the majority of his tenure on loan to clubs like , Derby, Sheffield and Aberdeen. A permanent move to the latter came in 2019, before the forward enjoyed spells with Salford City and Port Vale.

Fast forward to May 2025, and Wilson currently plies his trade with Northampton Town at the back end of the League One table. However, with his contract with The Cobblers expiring this summer, he may be on the move once more in the near future unless he activates the 12-month extension in his contract.

Gyasi Zardes

A man who has spent the entirety of his career in the United States, Gyasi Zardes was playing for LA Galaxy when Messi made his predictions. However, his incredibly bright start with the MLS side started to wane through injury, before the striker moved to Columbus Crew in 2018.

A move to Colorado Rapids followed four years later, before Zardes landed with Austin FC in 2023. However, he was released by the club in December the following year and currently sits in the MLS Pool without a club for the 2025 season at the age of 33.

Timo Werner

Messi certainly wasn't alone in expecting big things from Timo Werner after witnessing his incredible pace and precision at VfB Stuttgart. After breaking through the youth system of the club in 2013, the striker spent three years with the Bundesliga side before transferring to RB Leipzig.

After scoring 78 goals in 128 Bundesliga matches, Chelsea opted to bring the German to the in 2020 in a deal estimated to have been worth around £45m. Despite lifting a Champions League and an with the Lions, Werner failed to impress in the English top flight in terms of personal play, finding the back of the net just 23 times in two seasons before he returned to Leipzig for around £20m less.

Werner returned to the Premier League last January with Spurs, but has once more failed to score goals for the struggling north Londoners, with just three goals in 41 games to his name.

Rony Lopes

snapped up Rony Lopes from Benfica in his formative years with hopes of moulding him into the next big thing, but the right-winger made just five appearances for the Blues before he was sold to Monaco in 2015. He certainly started to find his footing in Ligue 1 however, racking up 21 goals and 14 assists for the side during his four year contract.

Lopes made the move to Sevilla in 2019, where he spent four years with the La Liga club before moving on to Braga and subsequently Alanyaspor. In 2025, Lopes is out on loan with Farense, who sit rock bottom of the Lia Portugal standings, having made 11 appearances for the club this term.

Jeremie Boga

Jeremie Boga burst onto the scene with Chelsea in 2015 after spending six years of his youth with the club, but like other players on this list, the Blues didn't quite utilise him how he'd have hoped – sending him on loan to Rennes, Grenada, and Birmingham City before eventually selling him to Sassuolo in 2018.

Boga spent four years with the club before a loan to Atalanta became a permanent deal in 2022. Nice then picked the attacking midfielder up for a reported £13m in 2023, and the 28-year-old has excelled in Ligue 1 since.

While Boga, who was born in Marseille, initially represented France at international level in his youth, he switched allegiance to the Ivory Coast in his senior career – a move that may have proved beneficial, given that he lifted the 2023 African Cup of Nations with the country.

Khiry Shelton

After being selected as the second overall pick of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft by New York City FC, expectations were certainly high for Khiry Shelton. However, his stint with the club didn't quite go to plan.

After scoring just six goals for the side through 57 appearances, Shelton made his way to Sporting Kansas City in 2018. While a move to SC Paderborn ensued the following year, giving Shelton the opportunity to impress in Europe, he ultimately couldn't cut the mustard overseas, making just six appearances for the first team an finding himself demoted to the B-side.

The now 31-year-old returned to Sporting Kansas City in 2020, and has found his footing in the MLS with the franchise - but is yet to receive his first senior call-up for the US national football team.

Accursio Bentivegna

Accursio Bentivegna broke through the youth ranks of Palermo back in 2015, and Messi picked the forward over Argentinian team-mate Paulo Dybala in his predictions – a man who has lifted the World Cup alongside the legend of the game and has enjoyed game-time with and Roma.

To say that the pressure on Bentivegna to succeed was immense would be an understatement – given just how well Dybala fared in his own respective career – and it appears as though Messi well and truly missed the mark for opting to select the Italian in the end.

The winger found very little success in the Italian top flight, instead, moving on from Palermo to Carrarese and Juve Stabia, before making his way to Delfino Pescara 1936 in 2024 – who play in Serie C.

Maxwel Cornet

It's no surprise that Messi hand-picked Maxwel Cornet for greatness given that the winger made headlines for his move from Metz to Lyon in 2015. And unlike other players on this list who didn't receive much in terms of opportunity from the bigger clubs they graces, Cornet proved imperative to the success of Lyon in Ligue 1 during his six-year tenure.

The Ivorian scored 51 goals and added 29 assists in 252 games for the club, before making the move to in 2021. Unfortunately, it was a transfer with ultimately proved lacklustre for the 28-year-old, as Burnley found themselves relegated from the Premier League after an 18th-place finish in the standings.

However, a move to came in 2022, where Cornet remains to this day, albeit currently on loan from his parent club to Genoa in Serie A. Various injuries have ultimately plagued his time in east London.

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