Pele says only Messi Ronaldo Neymar are great players today

The Brazilian superstar said English football used to have some of the greatest footballers. But he claimed that there were far more amazing players across world football.

Pele said agents take the players overseas or to large clubs way too early. It happens before they can fully develop their footballing skill with the team they began with. He believes they should stay with their home clubs for a few more years. And then they should brace the journey to the big European leagues.

“I think one of the problems is that the players used to remain longer in the team they started with, in the country they were born,” he said. “Before, the players belong to their club, they had the chance to grow there. Now the players belong to the impresarios, the agents, their personal managers.”

The issue is particularly present in Brazil. Here earmarked star players like Robinho, Adriano, Denilson Pereira Neves and Alexandre Pato never accomplished their superstar potential.

“We have this problem in Brazil, the best players start to play, then immediately comes the impresario, they pay a little too much, and hoping to make money straight away, they push them too early,” he said. “They don’t have time to develop.”