Football legend Pele, who died Thursday at the age of 82, "transformed football into an art," said Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar in a tribute to his country's greatest sporting icon.

"Before Pele, '10' was just a number," the heir to Pele's famed jersey number wrote on Instagram, alongside two pictures of himself with the late legend.

"But that beautiful sentence is incomplete. I would say that before Pele, football was just a sport. He transformed football into an art, into entertainment... Football and Brazil gained status thanks to the King. He has gone, but his magic will remain. Pele is ETERNAL!"