Ronaldinho: Neymar will be the best player in the world 'very soon'

The 23-year-old Neymar, currently starring for Brazil at the Copa America in Chile, joined Barcelona from Santos in the summer of 2013.

Neymar took time to adjust to the rigours of European football and Barcelona failed to win a trophy last year.

However, the forward, who already has 44 goals in international football, was integral to Barcelona’s treble and former Brazil team-mate Ronaldinho can only see him getting better.

"He is on the way towards making history," Ronaldinho was quoted as saying by daily Sport.

"When I arrived at Barcelona, the club hadn't won anything for a while. Barca wanted a change of fortunes and opened the doors to new success.

"Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Romario and already played for Barcelona and had left a gap for a Brazilian.

"Now I am sure that Neymar will continue this, and he will want to do it better than my generation.

"Very soon Neymar will transform into the best footballer in the world. I am going to encourage him to reach this target.

"If he doesn't do it this year, it will be very soon."

Neymar’s influence at Barcelona has grown as the season has gone on and there is little doubt that he is now one of the best players in the world – he is nearing the level set by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

It almost seems inevitable that he will soon collect the Ballon d’Or. He will almost certainly be the best player in the world once Messi and Ronaldo enter the twilight years of their careers - whether, however, he will manage to reach the peaks set by those two remains to be seen.