Juventus centre-back Giorgio Chiellini has claimed that Neymar "is at the level" of Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, amid suggestions that the Brazilian will join Paris Saint-Germain in a £196m deal this summer.
It is understood that PSG are prepared to activate Neymar's release clause in order to bring the attacker to Paris ahead of the 2017-18 campaign.
Chiellini watched Neymar at close quarters on Saturday night as the 25-year-old scored twice in Barcelona's 2-1 win over Juventus, and the Italian has claimed that the former Santos youngster would be worth every penny of his buy-out figure.
"I said it last season, Neymar is at the level of Messi and Ronaldo, and he's their designated heir for the Ballon d'Or," Chiellini told Premium Sport.
"Neymar's valuation? They're huge numbers but ones that apply to a player that changes the course of a game and a season almost single-handedly. Therefore it is right for a team to spend a certain figure if they have the opportunity to do so."
Neymar has scored 105 goals in 186 appearances for Barcelona since joining the Catalan outfit in the summer of 2013.
Matt Law
