Former Brazil striker Ronaldo has paid tribute to Neymar and claimed that the 24-year-old is the "heir" to Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi.

Neymar joined Barcelona from Santos in 2013 and has scored 76 times in 123 appearances for the Spanish club.

Twenty-two of those goals have come in 31 appearances this season, and the Brazil captain came third behind Messi and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2015 Ballon d'Or due to his excellent form last term.

Ronaldo has said that he sees some of himself in Neymar, who is destined to become "Messi's heir".

"I like Neymar a lot. He is a bit like me. He had some difficulties in getting used to his new environment at first, but I knew that he was going to succeed," Ronaldo told Calciomercato. "Can he be Messi's heir? Yes, he has everything he needs to become as strong as him."

Only Pele (77), Ronaldo (62), Romario (55) and Zico (48) have scored more times for Brazil than Neymar, who has 46 goals in 69 appearances for his country.