Cesc Fabregas names Lionel Messi's successor

Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas feels Brazilian superstar Neymar will take over the mantle when Lionel Messi eventually drops his form.

Neymar, now in his third season at Barcelona, has scored 68 goals in 108 appearances for the Blaugrana, combined with 34 assists as he forms a potent strikeforce alongside Messi and Luis Suarez.
The 23-year-old has been widely tipped to be one of the contenders to lift the 2015 Ballon d’Or award – an accolade which teammate Messi has already won four times.
Yet former Barca midfielder Fabregas feels that although it will be difficult for the Selecao star to replicate the Argentine now, he will definitely take over from the Spanish club’s talisman in future.
"That will be very difficult, we are talking about Messi who already at 21 years old had won the Ballon d'Or," the Chelsea midfielder told Goal.com.
"That does not usually happen. So the level Leo has been showing for the last 10 or 12 years is incomparable with any player ever. I am young, and cannot talk about Pele or [Diego] Maradona. But I doubt that any player in history has been so important, so good, every three days, for their team, as Leo has.
“It will be difficult, but when Leo drops his level in a few years' time, Neymar will be the one to reign."
Messi, 28, is Barcelona’s record goal-scorer already, with 420 goals in 494 appearances to his name.