'He should have won five Ballons d'Or!' - Gianluigi Buffon picks Neymar ahead of Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo as best player he has seen

World Cup winner Buffon played with and against a number of iconic figures during his remarkable career. The ex-Italy international goalkeeper shared a dressing room with the likes of Ronaldo, Neymar and Zinedine Zidane, while lining up against Messi and several other generations loaded with talent.

Buffon played well into his 40s, before finally hanging up his gloves in 2023, and is now enjoying casting a wistful eye over all that he achieved. Inevitably, talk has turned to the best players that he ever shared a field with.

When that question was put to him by Corriere della Sera, Buffon said: “I played with three generations, how can I choose? Zidane, Ronaldo, Messi, CR7, [Andres] Iniesta… But if I have to pick one I’d say Neymar. For the player and the boy he is, he should have won five Ballons d’Or!”

Buffon spent a season alongside Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain in 2018-19. He returned to Juventus to work with Portuguese superstar Ronaldo – a man that does have five Golden Balls to his name and one that is looking to emulate his former team-mate by playing on at the highest level beyond the age of 40.