Pele has named Lionel Messi as the world’s most complete player right now and would have loved to play with him.

The former Santos and Brazil superstar named Messi as well as Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar as the three players he thinks are the elite.

But he confesses that his favourite of the trio is Argentina legend Messi.

Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport per SportStar, the 79-year-old said:

“I think of Leo Messi.

“He is a skilled player, gives assists, passes, scores, dribbles well.

“If we were in the team together, the opponents should worry about two players, not just one!

“Today, Messi is the most complete player.”

But the former New York Cosmos man lamented the number of world class players in the modern era in his eyes.

“Once, you found two or three in every country with a great football culture.

“Eusebio, (Antonio) Simoes, (Johan) Cruyff, (Franz) Beckenbauer, (Diego) Maradona, Garrincha, Didi. How many did I say? There were so many.”

“Today we have two or three in all. Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, I would say Neymar, who in Brazil has not yet managed to become a great figure.”

It could be considered harsh from the three time World Cup winner as young stars such as Kylian Mbappe have burst onto the world stage recently.

Discussing the young Frenchman, Pele told Goal last year:

“What is missing? Not much. Maybe his heading game, the impulse and the jump. That’s what makes us different again because I had a lot of momentum. I was going very high and I scored a lot of headed goals.”

Pele has always been a fan of fellow countryman Neymar but the PSG star has had parts of his career marred by controversy over the last few years.

Pele is hoping the 28-year-old can put it all behind him and lead Brazil to World Cup glory in Qatar two years from now.

“I hope that at the next World Cup he is in good physical condition.” Pele said.

“People criticise him, I even did it a few times, but we forget that he is a product of ours, of Santos.

“We always want the best for him. I talk about him often with his father.

“Technically, he is an excellent player.”

But it won’t come as a shock that he would have loved to play with Messi.

Those two in the same team would strike fear into every defence to ever play.