Former teen prodigy who became a former Ghana International and a Hearts of Oak great Bernard Don Bortey has shared his views on who he sees as the best young emerging talents in the world.

According to the former winger he sees Real Madrid and Brazil youngster Vinicius Junior as a far better player than Barcelona's Ansu Fati who has shot to prominence this season.

He believes Ansu Fati may suffer from the presence of six time Ballon D'or winner Lionel Messi as opposed to benefiting from the talented winger.

Vinicius made his breakthrough last season in the Spanish La Liga with some eye catching displays after making 18 appearances but has so far made 19 appearances scoring two goals.

“I watch Marcus Rashford and Vinicius Jnr a lot. I think Vinicius is the most exciting young player for me because to play for Real Madrid is not an easy thing. If you get the chance, you have to play your heart out. Vinicius is even making the first XI. He’ll be a great player one day,” Bortey told Goal on Wednesday.

“Fati is also good but there are the likes of Messi at Barcelona and you can only become the star man when Messi is not there. But at Real Madrid everybody has the chance to shine.”

Despite his relative level of success many still feel he was a massive failure as he had a lot of promise coming up as a youngster for the national U-17 team in New Zealand 1999.

Bortey won the Caf Confederations Cup title with Hearts of Oak in 2005 and four league titles but with his explosive burst onto the scene ending up as the third top scorer at the U-17 tournament in New Zealand much was expected from the talented winger.

“Everything is confidence. No matter your age, be it 15, 16. We can see Fati, he’s just a 17-year-old boy. The coach will give you the chance to show what you have but everything will be down to your confidence,” the now 37-year-old said.

“If you have it, you can play with anyone, be it [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Messi or any kind of player. You can see Vinicius Jnr. We have a lot of young talented players who are coming to dominate world football. We have to encourage them.”

For a player who accepts his career didn’t quite turn out as he expected, a word of caution to the likes of Fati and Vinicius should not be taken lightly.

“They would have to be careful with the media hype because hearing your name everywhere can get you swollen-headed. They also have to respect the game. They have to work hard, do self-training and not just rely on team training,” the former Ghana international said.

“Looking at how the coronavirus has ground all the teams, as a young lad, you have to keep training on your own or else you may lose your touch.


“They must respect the people they work with and they must fear God too because he gave them the talent. They must also respect the fans and the media who carry them higher.”

The stylist winger played  for Al Wasl FC of the United Arab Emirates, Bnei Sakhnin of Israel, Vietnamese side CLB Song Lam and The Panthers of Equatorial Guinea in a series of brief, unsuccessful stints abroad.