Paulo Dybala, who found himself in hot water recently when he admitted he struggles to play alongside Lionel Messi, has now revealed what the Argentine told him when they met for the first time after his controversial remarks.
Read: Messi Comments On Possible Rift With Dybala
The 23-year-old has opened up about his controversial interview, and said Messi just laughed the quotes off and advised him not to take everything in the media too seriously.
"As soon as I arrived at the national team training camp, I went to face him," Dybala told TyC Sports, as quoted by Marca.
"I said 'Leo...', and he started to laugh because he already understood.
"I then realised there was no need to clarify anything. There was no need to talk about it.
"It was five or 10 seconds and he told me to remain calm and that there was no issue."
Dybala also insisted that his quotes were misinterpreted and that Messi is, in fact, one of his idols.
"It was an interview with 22 questions and 18 of them were about Messi," he added.
"I said really nice things about him in 17 of those questions, as I consider Messi an idol.
"It was misinterpreted and it hurt me."
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Many consider Dybala to be Messi's successor at international level, but the 23-year-old, who has begun the new campaign with 13 goals in 17 games for Juventus, is yet to find the back of the net for Argentina's senior side.
Do you think Dybala and Messi should both be in Argentina's starting XI at the World Cup next year? Have your say in the comments section below.
