Dani Alves: 'Neymar is a monster'

Barcelona defender Dani Alves has branded his teammate Neymar "a monster" and claimed that the Brazilian can "become whatever he wants".

Neymar took his time to settle at Camp Nou following a move from Santos in 2013, but the attacker has been excellent over the last 12 months.

This season, the 23-year-old has scored 16 times in 17 appearances, including 14 in 12 games in La Liga.

Alves has said that his international teammate's development "has been brutal" and backed the forward to continue improving in the years ahead.

"Neymar's development has been brutal. He'll become whatever he wants to be because his potential allows it. He's a monster," Alves told reporters.

Neymar, who has been shortlisted for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award, scored twice in Barcelona's 4-0 win over Real Sociedad at the weekend, while Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi were also on the scoresheet.