The 26-year-old played alongside Messi at Barcelona and regularly squared off with Juventus and Portugal sensation Cristiano Ronaldo during his spell in La Liga with Real Madrid.

Neymar has carved out a career of his own as one of the elite players in world football and has netted 39 goals in just 43 games with PSG, as well as scoring 105 times in 186 games for Barca.

Nevertheless, he remains in awe of the talents of the duo, who have established a stranglehold on the Ballon d’Or over the last decade.

“Facing Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – and I played with Messi, who is, for me, one of the greatest footballers of all time, and he is my idol in football,” he told the Players’ Tribune.

“With Messi, I learned every day, whether during our practice, or playing with him, or just watching him play. And that made me stronger and it increased my capacity on the field because I kept learning a lot from him.

“As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he is a monster. Facing him is a pleasure and an honor, 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.” (Goal)

•Photo shows Neymar