Former Brazil star Tostao feels Barcelona forward Neymar is a better player than illustrious compatriots such as Romario and Ronaldo and has backed the 24-year-old to become his country's greatest - with the exception of Pele.

Neymar still sits behind Ronaldo and Romario in Brazil's all-time goalscoring charts - topped by Pele - but Tostao would already put the ex-Santos man ahead of both iconic attackers.

"I do not know whether Neymar will become the best player in the world, but there is no doubt about it that he is a phenomenon and a spectacular player," Tostao told El Pais.

"He has all the skills an attacker needs to have. He shoots well, is intelligent, passes well, draws fouls and is very fast. He might not be there just yet, but he can become Brazil's greatest ever since Pele.

"He is better than Romario and Ronaldo, more complete. He has it all. Romario and Ronaldo were great at certain specific things.

"He is not the best in the world right now because of the presence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But he is better than others who were the best in the world in their days, like Rivaldo, Kaka and Luis Figo.

"Of course, he still has room for improvement, but his figures are impressive."