Former Brazil midfielder Paulo Roberto Falcao believes that the 2014 World Cup hosts would benefit if Neymar were to leave Santos for Europe.

GettyImagesNeymar has been advised to move by the Brazil coach, and team-mate Ronaldinho

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Neymar, 20, is one of the most highly-rated young players in world football and has been heavily linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona, though he has regularly reiterated his commitment to Santos.

Despite the player's public pledges to his current club, Brazil coach Mano Menezes recently claimed a move to Europe would help better ready Neymar for the challenges of international football, particularly with the 2014 World Cup in mind.

And Bahia coach Falcao, who won 34 caps for Brazil and made the continental switch himself as a player when he moved from Internacional to Roma in 1980, is in agreement with Menezes' assessment.

''I think Europe has a capacity, a tactical culture that we do not yet have here,'' Falcao told SporTV. ''It gives you an understanding of the game.

''I do not know for sure, but for the experience and the culture - speaking from a footballing angle - it would be an advance.

''The national team would do better because he [Neymar] would have a different makeup, he would grow in a way that would help a lot."

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