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?
One of the reasons I think this is their personalities off the pitch. Most young lads playing football will look up to Ronaldo more due to him being more extroverted and seems to be more bothered about his appearance and stuff than Messi does. As I stated, it’s not the reason, but I think it’s one of them. This is normal with all walks of life, different personalities attract more admirers/fans.
And then there’s the Madrid effect too, where you can’t be seen to be saying you prefer Messi. Listen to Phil Kitro on the episode of The Spanish Football Podcast after he left his role at Real Madrid TV.