He Can ‘Take Over To Be The Best Player In The World,' Former Arsenal Coach Reveals Messi, Ronaldo's Successor

Former Arsenal coach Unai Emery has suggested that Neymar can “take over” from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to become the best player in the world.

The duo of Messi and Ronaldo has dominated the world of soccer for over a decade now and there have been very few players, whose talent has been compared to these two and Neymar is one of them.

When Neymar moved from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on a world-record fee of $245 million, Emery was the French side’s in charge, who left the club at the end of that very season. However, he went on a high as Neymar and Co. clinched the domestic treble.

“The year I was with him [Neymar] was magnificent. I learned a lot from seeing his answers in each training session and in the matches."

"Neymar has football inside, but also the faculties and the conditions to execute it. I think he is facing the opportunity to take over from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to be the best player in the world, and he has time to do it,” Emery, who was sacked by Arsenal earlier in the ongoing 2019-20 season, told Spanish newspaper Marca.

Messi(6) and Ronaldo (5), who share a total of 11 Ballon d’Or awards between them, are evidently in the twilight years of their respective careers and hence, fans and pundits have begun to explore a possible successor to them who could be the best soccer player in the near future.

Twenty-eight-year-old Neymar, who already has impressed with his game so far, is seven years younger than Ronaldo and four years younger than Messi. While he clinched seven titles with Barcelona, he has won three Ligue 1 trophies in a row with PSG including this season. France, earlier this week announced that they would not be completing the campaign due to the coronavirus outbreak and hence, table-toppers PSG were handed their third consecutive league win.