Despite being regarded as the heir to Lionel Messi s throne, legendary footballer Pele believes Neymar does not have the quality of his Barcelona team-mate or Cristiano Ronaldo.
Neymar forms a key part of Barcelona s formidable front three labelled MSN alongside five-time Ballon d Or winner Messi and Luis Suarez, while he is the face of Brazil s new generation as captain.
The 24-year-old, who scored 31 goals in all competitions last season, finished third behind Messi and Ronaldo in Ballon d Or voting after helping Barca to the treble in 2014-15.
But countryman Pele arguably the greatest player of all time insisted Neymar is not in the same bracket as Messi and Ronaldo.
I ve known Neymar since he was little and many years ago his coaches told me he was very good, Pele told Marca.
That is so but he doesn t have the quality of Ronaldo or Messi.
If I had to say who the number one player is today, I would say Lionel. The Portuguese has a different style of play but the best is Messi, in my opinion.
Asked about Neymar and whether he overplays the game at times, Pele added: Not everyone does this Zico didn t and nor did Pele so it s not common to everyone.
Each one has his own style. But you have to always respect your opponent, like Romario did for example.
