Totti settles Messi vs Ronaldo, slams Neymar
Although he now sees events such as Neymar's world-record move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain as an example of football breaking distastefully with its past, the former Italy forward is happy to marvel at the two greats of this generation.
"I really preferred the football of a long time ago. Today it is just crazy," he said at the Dubai International Sports Conference. "Football has deeply changed between my time and now. I prefer the romantic football of before, now it is all about business.
"There are players like Ronaldo and Neymar, but Neymar is an example of this big price, it is too much to pay €250m for a player. This goes beyond reality.”
He added, “But Messi is number one, just don't tell Cristiano!"