Edgar Davids: 'Neymar still behind Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo'

By Matt Law, Football Editor | 22 December 2015

Former Barcelona midfielder Edgar Davids says that Neymar cannot yet be mentioned in the same company as either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

Former Barcelona midfielder Edgar Davids has claimed that while Neymar is improving, the Brazil captain is still not quite at the level of either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barcelona's Messi and Real Madrid's Ronaldo have long been considered the top two players in world football, but Neymar's performances over the last 12 months have led to some placing him in that company.

Davids has paid tribute to the qualities of Neymar, but says that the 23-year-old still has work to do to reach the very top of the sport.

"Neymar is from Brazil so you have to come from a different country, you have to adapt to a different system, different players," Davids told FIFA.com.

"He was a talent, still, talent alone is not enough - a lot of big players have talent - but really maximising that talent, working every day, mentally working [on] that talent every day, that is hard.

"It's not easy and you see he's maintained that and he's stayed focused and now you see he is up there [but] he's still not on that level of those two [Messi and Ronaldo]."

Neymar will compete against Barcelona teammate Messi and Ronaldo for the upcoming Ballon d'Or, which will be awarded next month. Messi and Ronaldo have shared the individual accolade over the last seven years.