Neymar needs more maturity to reach Lionel Messi’s level, says Xavi

Former Barcelona star Xavi said that Brazilian forward Neymar needs to mature to come on the same level as Argentine star Lionel Messi.

Despite being a fan of the Brazilian, Xavi, who currently plies his trade for Qatari club Al Sadd SC rated Messi as being a level higher.

“They are different. I see Leo with great footballing maturity. He does everything well. Neymar is a person who has to mature, but he seems like a player with enormous capacity to make a difference.

“Although he could improve, he is among the top players in the world,” Xavi said while speaking to Super Deportivo de Villa Trinidad.

In August 2017, Neymar left Barcelona for a world record fee of €222 million to French giants Paris Saint-Germain. Nonetheless, there have been reports in Spain which suggest that the star forward is willing to return to his former club in Spain to reunite with Messi and Luis Suarez.

Recently, Messi was at the receiving end of criticism from Argentine great Diego Maradona who opined that the Barcelona forward wasn’t a leader and didn’t have the requisite skills to lead his country.

Xavi came out in support of his former teammate calling him an incredible leader.

I disagree with Maradona,” he added.

“Messi is an incredible leader, he is maybe quiet in the dressing room but he’s an absolute leader. He always wants the ball, he always offers himself, he has personality. He has never hidden.

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“I don’t like it when former footballers are too critical with former team-mates. I’m not just talking about Maradona but in general.

“These footballers who are very critical with their professional team-mates…they have been there and they know the difficulty. I don’t understand the strong criticism against players when you have been there too,” Xavi stated.

Argentina had a poor outing in the World Cup in Russia where they were knocked out by eventual champions France in the round of 16 stage. This performance by the national team has led to rumours and speculations that the 31-year old will finally call it a day from international football but Xavi thinks otherwise. The Spanish midfielder instead feels that Messi would continue to represent his country.

“I think he’ll return. He needs time to reflect and to rest but I think he’ll go back,” he said.

“He is a competitive beast and he will want to try and win with Argentina,” he added.

Image Source: Telegraph