There was Ballon d'or but it was exclusively awarded to European players. South American football was on par with European football during Pele era. By 1970 CONMEBOL had won more world cups than UEFA (5 vs 4) and more Intercontinental Cups (6 vs 5). South American players did not have any need to play in European football at the time. This scenario started to change in the early 80s, and then Bosman law killed not only South American football but also lower European leagues.

Santos was regarded as the world best club in the sixties

You are comparing football leagues in the 60s with current teams. That's a big mistake. Brazilian clubs were among the best in the world during that time. And, moreover, European leagues were not as good as they are today (there was much less money at the time). So your mistake as with many others is to think that playing in Santos was worse than playing for Barcelona or PSG. That's not the case, Santos was as good or better than any team in Europe.

No. Thats because the Premier league's pay is off the scale compared to South American leagues. Even lower PL teams have World Cup winners playing for them.