Barcelona forward Neymar would not be the same player if it was not for his “idol” Lionel Messi or Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, his father has revealed.
The 24-year-old superstar joined the Catalan giants in 2013 from Brazilian outfit Santos and has slotted in seamlessly ever since.
Neymar has excelled under the stewardship of Luis Enrique in particular and played a key role during their treble-winning 2014/15 season, as well as the double-winning campaign they had last term.
And the forward is now one-third of possibly the finest front-three of all time, alongside Messi and former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.
And Neymar’s father has now revealed that the Brazil international, who signed a new contract last week with the club, looked up to Messi as a kid and without him – as well as rival and Real Madrid forward Ronaldo – he would not be the player he is today.
“We all know who Messi is and what he means. He is the idol of my son and for him is a pleasure being at his side,” Neymar Senior told Cope.
“He is always happy for playing together and he is playing here for Messi.
“If Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo never existed probably Neymar never existed too; the same with Pele and Maradona, both inspired a lot of players.”
Messi is often regarded as possibly the finest player of all time, but there has been debate at times over whether the Argentina international is an all- round better player than Real Madrid’s record goalscorer Ronaldo.
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