'Neymar would grow so much playing alongside Messi' - Ramalho

'Neymar & Messi together would be spectacular' - Ramalho

Dec 31, 2012 7:20:00 PM

The Santos coach hailed his star player as a genius, and he believes the Brazil starlet would fit in best at Barcelona due to their fluidity, compared to Real Madrid's rigidness

Santos head coach Muricy Ramalho is of the opinion that Neymar would be most suited moving to Barcelona, and he believes Lionel Messi and the 20-year-old would be spectacular together.

The Brazil international was on the long list for the Ballon d’Or, while the Blaugrana attacker is one of the final three nominees and is the favourite to win it again.

Ramalho hailed his star player as a rare talent and believes that he is destined to become a world-beating footballer in the not-too-distant future.

"He is a great player, and he will become a genius," the coach told Sport.es. "He's on the road to becoming as good as Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo - that type of player who only appears on the world stage very occasionally."

The Santos boss is adamant that Neymar would fit better at Camp Nou than Real Madrid due to the style of football that the Catalan club play.

"Barca are the team that best fit the characteristics of Neymar," Ramalho added. "Everyone likes watching their football. They are a team that plays free-flowing football.

"Today, Madrid have a great coach, but they are very tactical. [Jose] Mourinho plays rigid tactics and they must be obeyed.

"From my point of view it is difficult to do that with Neymar. Neymar cannot put in a fixed position and left there. That would be killing the boy. So, today, the ideal team for him is Barcelona.

"Great players understand each other. [Barca] have many great players and have been playing well together for a long time. Neymar would grow so much there.

"One day I'd like to see it. I'd love to see together the 'pair' [Messi & Neymar] to see what would happen. And I am sure it would be something really spectacular."