If Pele had to play the game today through space and time, as a young man again, he'd be ranked lower than Ronaldinho (overweight Ronaldinho). If Ronaldinho played during Pele's time, and Pele was god, then god would be cut.
That is also an eternal debate.
Football has evolute very much since the late 70's.
I guess the best team to follow to define "modern" football was late 80's AC Milan.
As an example of Pelé would do great, take Figo or Seedorf.
Both shined in their teams before moving to bigger clubs in 94.
Figo was a nightmare in a UEFA Cup match against Real Madrid and Barcelona hired him the next season.
In that same season, Seedorf won the Champions League with Ajax against AC Milan.
16 years later they still played great and adapted through different generations of football players and styles.
Figo is now professionally retired and Seedorf might be doing his last season ( at the calcio at least! ).
That said, could Pelé fit in nowadays football? perhaps not, but maybe he could have done extremely well in the 80's which wasn't too much far away from his retirement.
Players are humans. They evolute tactically so they adapt to different football eras, but they also age and become slower. That is the main problem.
Paolo Maldini started in AC Milan in 86 with only 16. He was already gifted.
His last season ( individual level ) was terrific for a almost 40 years old guy.
If Maldini could keep fresh, he'd still be a stronghold 10 years from now on.
And a last note, despite Pelé is considered to be the best player ever, it is namely due to his 3 World Cups victories and 4 different tournament appearances but, he never played in Europe. Brazil cooks the finest players ( overall, that is ) but their championship is slow as slugs and every striker has the chance of scoring tons of goals in there.
He's another legend that has never been around in europe when he should. That could have dictated him a different ending, but back then, his team beat Benfica ( Champions League holders ) in the intercontinental cup in Lisbon, and that was the best team in Europe back in the day.
Make your judgment.