Endrick, a new football star recruited to Real Madrid, quoted Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol. This is also seen with Haaland, Mbappe, Saka, Vini Jr, Rodrygo, Kvara. So many young players today all state Ronaldo as an influence for them. Messi has more accolades than Ronaldo, but the only young players I can think that stated him as an influence is Julian Alvarez and Jude Bellingham. Why do you think most young players respect and admire Ronaldo more than Messi?
The main reason is likely because Ronaldo is just a flashier player. Especially earlier on he had more of a highlight reel for dribbling as opposed to the efficient and effective body feints of Messi. Ronaldo also had some screamer long shot goals. Outside of that the dude always marketed himself well. Flashy is appealing to young fellas. Not saying Messi wasn’t, but that is likely why some of those dudes prefer Ronaldo. Messi is still extremely popular in his own right.