Gigi Buffon reveals the player he believes deserved five Ballon d'Or wins

The Italian legend, who was ranked at no.48 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest footballers of all time, had an illustrious career that spanned over 1000 senior appearances. He officially retired from professional football in 2023 at the age of 45.

Spells with Juventus, PSG and Parma mean the talented goalkeeper has played alongside some of the game's greatest stars, but his selection as to who was the best may in fact surprise you.

Gigi Buffon says Neymar was the best player he has ever played with

Cristiano Ronaldo, Alessandro del Piero, Pavel Nedved, Andrea Pirlo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are just some of the names Buffon could have picked, but it is a Brazilian icon who got the nod.

Sharing the pitch just 13 times, the Italy international insisted 32-year-old Neymar's talents were something to behold.

“[He was] the best player I’ve played with,” he told Italian media. “I’d say that in my opinion, he deserved to win five Ballons d’Or.

"I had the chance to play with Zidane, Ronaldo, Messi and more… but Ney was a really special guy and player.”

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Of the 13 times they played together, Buffon and Neymar lost just once, a 3-2 loss to Montpellier.

PSG obviously romped home to win the Ligue 1 title that very season, back in 2018/19, pipping Lille by a margin of 16 points.

In FourFourTwo's view, it is surprising that Buffon has selected Neymar given the plethora of talent he has played with. But we won't argue with the Italian icon, considering he knows a considerable amount more about football than we ever will.

After his retirement, Buffon is currently the National Team Delegation Head for Italy. It is a role that he took up almost straight after he called time on his career, replacing the late Gianluca Vialli.