Pele reckons Santos wonderkid Neymar can be as good as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have tracked his rise into the national team, along with Chelsea and Manchester City.
But Pele believes his talent will suffer if he decides to switch to England.
Pele, who also made his name with Santos, said: "He can be a great player.
"He can be like Messi or Ronaldo, no doubt.
"But I think it's a little complicated for him to move to a club in England or Italy at the moment. The marking is very tight there.
"He would find that a little difficult because he's very young.
"The game is very physical in England and Italy. Maybe in Holland or France or even Spain it would be better for him."
Santos have always insisted they want to keep hold of Neymar and make him the best player in the world.
But Pele added: "I think it is very difficult to keep him in Brazil. Santos is my team and he started there with us.
"I hope he stays there until more or less the 2014 World Cup but it will be a little difficult to keep him here.
"He hasn't reached his potential yet, but he is already an excellent player."
Chelsea : gt $$ , 60% can get a starting 11
Man U : dun think they need him for now
Arsenal : wenger wan meh?
Man City : gt more $$, but dun go better
Liverpool : cant get a ans ... dun think he wan too
Tottenham : 5 striker plus VDV, if come , pavlyu and crouch (keane) bye bye lia0
other team : confirm he dun wan (maybe everton)?