3. Neymar (Santos)

While the debate has roared on in Europe regarding Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there has been another young star who has emerged in the debate regarding the World's Best Player.

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, or simply Neymar, is one of the most promising footballers to have emerged from Brazil in over a decade.

Still only 20 years old, the unpretentious striker has already scored 9 times in 18 appearances for the nation and has tallied over 100 goals for local side Santos in just four seasons.

For years, he has been compared in South America to Argentinian rival Messi and Pele has even taken advantage of media inquiry to come out and claim that Neymar is by far the best player in the world, prompting millions of football fans to react.

Certainly, he will have a ways to go in order to surpass either Messi or Ronaldo in terms of personal accolades or trophies, but Neymar has quickly built for himself quite a reputation in his home nation.

Last season, he led Santos to their first Copa Libertadores triumph since Pele played in 1963, and he has collected a series of individual credits in Brazil: the 2011 Golden Ball and Golden Boot, followed by the FIFA Puskas award for most beautiful goal of the year.

In September 2011, Neymar also shocked the football world when he chose to sign a contract extension at Santos that would keep him at the club until 2014, neglecting all of the transfer speculation claiming he would sign for Real Madrid for over €60 million.

The news may have disappointed audiences across the globe, but proved the forward has a good head on his shoulders and is willing to improve at the hometown club that he signed for in 2003 before making an early move to a major club in Europe.

In any case, when he does move, he will certainly cost a record fee as he is already the7th richest footballer in the world, according to France Football magazine.