Dani Alves: 'Neymar will rival Lionel Messi as world's best'

Barcelona defender Dani Alves feels that Neymar's transfer to the club will see him eventually rival teammate Lionel Messi for the Ballon d'Or.

Messi is the current holder of the prestigious award and is the only player in history to have collected the accolade four times.

However, Alves believes that Neymar's arrival at Camp Nou means that Messi will now have added competition for the crown.

"I'm sure in the future it will be very difficult to choose between Neymar and Messi for the Ballon d'Or," Alves told reporters.

"To be the best, first one must have humility, and I know that Neymar does have that. He knows how much work needs to be done before he can win as many awards as Leo has done.

"I think today it is unfair to put all the responsibility on Neymar, who is just 21 years of age. This pressure should be distributed to everyone."

Neymar recently revealed that it was Alves who played a huge part in helping the forward join Barcelona.