Gianluigi Buffon says Neymar ‘should have won five Ballon d’Ors’ | OneFootball

Italian great Gianluigi Buffon believes Neymar deserves a lot more from his career and says the Brazilian was the best player he ever played with or against.

Buffon spent most of his career at Juventus and has come up against some of the greatest players of all-time, mentioning “Zidane, Ronaldo, Messi, Cristiano, Iniesta.”

But speaking to Corriere della Sera, Buffon says Neymar is the best player he has faced: “Choose one? Neymar. For the player he is and the person he is, he should’ve won five Ballon d’Ors.”

The goalkeeper played with Neymar for one season at PSG in 2018/19, but clearly saw enough of his special talent. The Brazilian only managed 16 league starts that year but put up very impressive numbers with 15 goals and seven assists.

Neymar finished third in the 2017 Ballon D’or list but playing in the same era as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi has meant he has failed to clinch the top honour.

He has also battled constant injuries. During his time in Paris he very rarely managed to start more than half of the games in a season.

Even at Al Hilal he has suffered with the same woes. He was injured for a year before coming back a couple of weeks ago, but unfortunately instantly picked up another injury.