He was never any better than Bale, Hazard, Robben etc. He was put on a pedestal because

a) He was the emerging star of Brazil, the nation most synonymous with great footballers, and

b) He played alongside Messi.

He’s mid football talent never was anything special just overhyped

Neymar never won the Ballon d’Or for the same reason that Iniesta never won it. When you play with Messi, you are never the best player on your team. Neymar was very good, certainly Ballon d’Or worthy, but going to PSG was what sealed the deal on him never winning the Ballon d’Or. If he didn’t and maybe went to a different club and won the ucl then maybe he could have won it, but that’s a hard maybe.

He’s lazy, never made his team win big, and fakes injuries from february to june.

All of this doesn’t help.

Neymar is just as good, if not better, than any “avarage” ballon d’or winner. But you know… Messi and CR7, you Just cannot do much against that.

I mean, I think Neymar could have achieved a level much closer to them than he did, you can even argue He was at a higher level than them at some specific points (obviously Messi and Ronaldo primes are still higher, I’m talking about a specific point in time), but he never did, his carrer has been full of Injuries and inconsistencies, truly a shame.

That said I think He is still not done!🙏🏽 I think He will still help a lot The Brazilian team and I hope He leave Saudi nest season, it’s hard for him to in the ballon d’or tho, but maybe not impossible? I think if Benzema won at 34 He can still do it. It will depend on the comoetition as well.

Pretty soft at times and a known diver…