He was jealous of him — Messi blasted over treatment of Mauro Icardi

Turkish football analyst Rasim Ozan Kutahyalı has accused Lionel Messi of having harboured jealousy against Mauro Icardi and blocking the former Inter star from participating in the Argentina national team. 

As Pulse Sports reported, Rasim Ozan praised how Galatasaray have managed to maintain the relationship between their two main stars, Osimhen and Icardi. 

He said that there was no jealousy between the Nigerian and his teammate. He then said that was not the case for Icardi at his national team, accusing Messi of jeopardising the striker's Argentina career out of spite. 

“Messi was jealous of him, so he didn't let him join the Argentine National Team,” Rasim said, per GsGazette. “Wanda Nara ruined Icardi for a while, but he later managed to recover. But no one can question Icardi's life. I saw him as the second Falcao case, but it didn't work out. He greatly misled me.”

While the 32-year-old is currently playing out his career away from the top five leagues, in Turkey, he was once one of the most feared and prolific strikers on the continent. 

Icardi, during his heydays, scored 124 goals for Inter in 219 matches between 2013 and 2020; he also won two Capocannonieres and Serie A Footballer of the Year in that time. 

However, his club form rarely translated into national team participation, as he has only made eight appearances for the Albiceleste. 

Interestingly, Messi was not away from the national team setup when Icardi made his four most recent appearances for Argentina. However, while the paucity of Icardi’s appearance tally for Argentina lends credence to Rasim’s claim, it is worth remembering that Albiceleste had a glut of strikers during that period, including Gonzalo Higuain, Kun Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Rodrigo  Palacio, Ezequiel Lavezzi, etc.