He may be constantly linked with a move to arch rivals Real Madrid, but Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar has described former Barcelona colleague Lionel Messi as his idol.
The Brazilian spoke about the Argentine in a piece with Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry for the Players’ Tribune.
Neymar, 26, talked about what it was like to play and train with Messi and also how he’s learnt from the Barca captain.
“I played with Messi, who is, for me, one of the greatest footballers of all time, and he is my idol in football,” he said.
“With Messi, I learned every day, whether during our practice, or playing with him, or just watching him play. That made me stronger and it increased my capacity on the field because I kept learning a lot from him.”
Neymar also spoke about Ronaldo.
It was rumoured that Neymar and Messi didn’t always see eye to eye during their time together at the Camp Nou, with the high esteem and control Messi has at the club seen as a reason for Neymar’s decision to leave for PSG in 2017, but he has been linked with a move back to Catalonia in recent weeks.
Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu has, however, said the club have no plans to re-sign their former star.
But latest reports claim Messi wants Neymar back at the Camp Nou and that Barca could be willing to use Ousmane Dembele as part of any potential deal.
Speculation linking Neymar to Los Blancos seems to have gone quiet, though that didn’t stop him speaking about former forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who departed for Juventus this summer.
“As for Cristiano, he is a monster,” he said.
“Facing him is a pleasure and an honour, but we have to be more prepared. He is one of the greatest in football, so you get smarter, you get alert, but at the same time you learn a lot, too.
“So, they are two of the big guys that I can relate to, because I want to learn, I want more, I want to win, I want more trophies, score more goals. So, I keep learning from them every day.”