Neymar Says Lionel Messi Deserves 2015 Ballon d'Or Award, Hopes to Make Top 3

Barcelona forward Neymar believes Lionel Messi will be named the 2015 Ballon d'Or winner and hopes to make the top three himself.

The 23-year-old spoke after scoring Brazil's opener during the 2-1 victory over Peru in their Copa America curtain-raiser, reported by AS: "This year the Ballon d'Or already has an owner. For everything that Messi has done this year he deserves it. We'll have to see if I can get into the top three."

Paul White/Associated Press

As ever, Messi and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo are set to lead the voting ahead of the next Ballon d'Or prize being handed out in January 2016. While the opening half of the 2015-16 club season still needs to be played before we reach that point—not to mention numerous international matches—we already have an excellent idea of who will compete for the sport's most prestigious individual prize.

Messi finished the season with 58 goals across triumphant La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League campaigns for Barca, per WhoScored.com. Although Madrid failed to gain any silverware, Ronaldo bagged himself 59 across all three competitions and landed himself the 2015 Golden Shoe. He also has five goals in Euro 2016 qualifying after his recent hat-trick in Portugal's win over Armenia.

However, Messi's game has been far more consistent in recent times. He's overcome the injuries of late 2013 to find exceptional form, aided by the presence of Neymar and Luis Suarez in Barca's attacking trident. While Ronaldo has tended to flit in and out of matches, Messi has proved to be a constant influence even if he isn't scoring goals.

Jorge Saenz/Associated Press

This was apparent during the recent 3-1 victory over Juventus in the Champions League final. The Argentinian didn't score or assist, but he kept the Blaugrana moving forward by dropping into space and cleverly spreading play. His bursting runs allowed him to skip away from defenders, opening room for others to run into.

The nature of his performance wasn't as headline-grabbing as the tremendous solo goal he scored in the Copa del Rey final victory against Athletic Bilbao, but it was every bit as important. Be sure to check out ESPN FC Sport Science's in-depth look at the goal below:

Players of Messi and Ronaldo's ilk are often solely measured by the amount of goals they score, but greatness is being able to selflessly impact the result without many noticing. A cynic would tell you Messi did very little against Juve. He or she would be overlooking the nuances of the game.

Neymar has worked hard on developing his style since moving to the Camp Nou in 2013. He was an individual superstar at Santos, but he immediately began to work for his team-mates when he moved to Europe.

This is also seen in his performances for Brazil, where he's already a leader for Dunga's side. His last-minute assist for Douglas Costa's winner against Peru highlighted this, as highlighted by Sportskeeda:

While he's unlikely to break into the Ballon d'Or voting's top two, there's few other players who can compete with Neymar for third. Perhaps Suarez and Chelsea's Eden Hazard will come closest. The "best of the rest" place is up for grabs across the next six months.

Suarez recently admitted he thinks Neymar will eventually grab the main prize, telling Marca: "He's a very determined player and I'm convinced he'll win a Ballon d'Or or two."

Kaka was the last player other than Messi or Ronaldo to do so in 2007, so Neymar may have to wait until both retire to be singled out as the world's best. Until then, 39 goals across all competitions for the Blaugrana is an excellent way to build momentum.