Until we actually see Neymar pulling on a Barcelona, Manchester City, Real Madrid or any other team’s jersey, his dribbling skills and impressive numbers won’t mean a thing. Until he won’t become he permanent fixture in the world’s top footballing competition, the Champions League, there’s no point in comparing him to Lionel Messi.

Pepe can talk all he wants about the player who has become much more than just a star for Santos, but being the reason for their resurgence in trendiness not only in Brazil, but around the world, despite being the smallest of the “big” Sao Paulo clubs. Neymar is that good, at least in South American terms, and it’s only a matter of time before we see him playing in Europe, right?

For now, despite the comparisons people like to draw between him and Messi, there’s no real competition. The proving ground these days is Europe, on of the major leagues, and the UCL. Lionel Messi has three titles, and soon he’ll be a winner of five La Liga titles. Neymar has to Copa Libertadores, and that’s pretty much it. A Silver medal in the Olympic games isn’t really something to brag about. He might be the more skillful dribbler, with the potential to be Brazil’s most successful footballing export in quite some time, but for now, he’s inferior to Lionel Messi, and a bunch of others as well.