Barcelona superstar Neymar has surprisingly revealed that former Real Madrid and Manchester City striker Robinho is his idol in the game.

Robinho was seen as the next Pele due to his similar nature of upbringing. His career also took the same path before he moved on to Real Madrid. However, Robinho could not even come close to the great Brazilian in terms of achievements in his career. For long periods at Madrid, Robinho was struggling to get game time and this led to his move to City. Robinho was an instant success for the first 12 months at Eastlands.

His career has gone downhill in rapid fashion over the last few years, but this has not prevented Neymar from naming Robinho as his idol. This will be a huge compliment for the Brazilian, who is now playing in the Chinese league withGuangzhou Evergrande. Once upon a time, Robinho was the finest young Brazilian out there. Neymar also had a similar status, but he has been able to live up to his potential even after a move to a big club like Barcelona. There were rumours that Neymar would move to the Premier league with Manchester United, but he was quick to dispel those rumours.

Robinho recently had successful spells with Santos before moving to China. “Robinho. I’ve always loved Robinho since I was little and I had the pleasure of playing alongside him, not just at Santos but with Brazil,” said Neymar without thinking twice about the answer. During his up-and-down career, Robinho represented the likes of Madrid, City, and AC Milan in Europe. Back in his home soil, though, it is a different story since he has not played for any other club than Santos. Robinho has featured in 100 appearances for the Brazilian national team and is one of the few players to achieve this landmark.