(VIDEO) Despite having played with Messi, the reason why Rakitic believes Neymar is the best

A former FC Barcelona teammate with Lionel Messi and Neymar, Ivan Rakitic, talked about his favorite player being the Brazilian star. In the ARLS Podcast, Rakitic admitted to having Neymar as his favorite player but recognized Messi as the greatest player in the history of football. Rakitic said, "Neymar Jr is my favorite player and will always be in my team. Messi is the best player in the world, not only now but in the history of football for sure.” When asked if Neymar wouldn't be above Messi, Rakitic did not deny it and insisted on saying that Neymar is his favorite, perhaps in terms of football skills.

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The Croatian midfielder continues to describe what is different about Neymar compared to other players, which also makes him his favorite player. Rakitic says that Neymar makes football "look like dancing, you know this happiness? That's why I put a picture in my Instagram where I said just please never lose your happiness, because you're different man."

Rakitic also defends Neymar for comments suggesting the Brazilian is arrogant and flashy when it comes to the money he has earned. Rakitic said the opposite of these comments about Neymar. Rakitic says, "I had the opportunity to play with so many big stars, but he's [Neymar] different; He's so kind and so open. That's why I'm so happy that he did the career he did.”

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Ivan Rakitic misses FC Barcelona

Rakitic is currently playing in the Saudi Pro League with Al Shabab, but he still remembers his good times at FC Barcelona. Rakitic spoke about feeling the pressure of the club after the team won a game 6-0, but they did not impress by the style of play. The Croatian midfielder said, "In one of my first matches for Barcelona, we won 6-0, and I scored a goal. The first question in the post-match interview was that we did not play well. That's when I knew that just winning is not enough at Barça. They want to win and play well." Rakitic has a picture of him with all the little he has won with Barcelona in his locker at Al Shabab.