"People are always talking about whether Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo is the best but for me it's Neymar," he was quoted as saying by Madrid sports daily AS.
Argentina's Messi and Portugal's Ronaldo have shared the last seven Ballon d'Or trophies to underline their standing in the modern game.
Even former winner Kaka has remarked that he was the last man "born on this planet" to win the award.
The two superstars are seen by an overwhelming majority of fans as football's finest exponents although opinion is divided as to which of the two is the better player.
They are the main reason Barcelona and Real Madrid are among the world's best teams and two of the favourites to win the UEFA Champions League.
Neymar, who is only 23, can be a fantastic player on his day but he has yet to reach his full potential.
Messi, 28, and Ronaldo, 30, are at the peak of their mesmeric powers and can do no wrong at the moment so Carlos's views no doubt will have raised a few eyebrows.
What makes Carlos's statement even more interesting, however, is the explanation he gives for hailing his fellow Brazilian, who was brutally bundled out of the last FIFA World Cup by Colombia's Juan Camilo Zuniga in the quarter-finals.
Carlos, who was a member of Brazil's 2002 World Cup-winning side, says that Neymar is a much better player when he dons the Barcelona jersey than when he wears Brazil's colours.
When he represents his country he is under immense pressure and is expected to lead by example but when he is in Barcelona mode he becomes just one of a plethora of stars and has less responsibility.
This is because Brazil is in a rejuvenation process and building a team for next year's Copa America after last year's World Cup disaster while Barcelona is far more settled and established, Carlos argues.
Messi, Andres Iniesta and Luis Suarez make Neymar feel more comfortable and place him under less pressure, presumably because the spotlight is not entirely on him as is the case when he plays for Brazil.
In other words, Carlos believes that it is easier to play better when you are surrounded by better teammates.
Carlos's views provide food for thought.
Many fans and media personnel sometimes are too quick in extolling the virtues of star players and master coaches without considering the key factors that help them attain greatness.
And they are just as quick to dismiss other players or coaches who do not have the fortune to play for or manage a team full of stars.
Unlike tennis or boxing, football is a team game and individual appraisals should be made with this in mind.
Who knows if Messi or Ronaldo would be able to create as many headlines with their heroics week in week out and win so many individual honours year in year out if they happened to be playing for Villarreal or Malaga instead of their star-studded teams?
Who knows if top coaches like Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola or Chelsea's Jose Mourinho would be so famous and treated like demi-gods if they managed a battling team instead of two of the wealthiest clubs on the planet?
Mourinho likes to see himself as the special one which is fair enough but take him to Sunderland and let's see how good he is.
By the same token, was Otto Rehhagel's extraordinary feat of leading rank outsider Greece to European championship glory in 2004 at least as significant as any of Vicente del Bosque's acclaimed triumphs with a much stronger Spain squad?
The point I'm trying to make is that individual 'ratings' in a team sport are all relative and heavily dependent on other contributors and it is very hard to 'rank' them with a degree of accuracy.
As to coaches, it might be worth considering the means at their disposal before establishing their true credentials.
Many would disagree with Carlos's opinion but he has a point.
