Barcelona ace Leo Messi wants Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain in the Argentina World Cup squad.

Higuain has been dropped for the last few games in favour of Inter hitman Mauro Icardi.

“As far as I am concerned, Higuain is one of the best centre-forwards in the world. He proves that with Juventus and it's just not the same thing playing for Argentina," Messi told TyC Sports.

“Criticism does hurt him and we've talked about this many times. I think this period off international duty was good for him, though, as he has been able to focus on training and improving his fitness levels.

“Having said that, he needs to be in the Argentina squad."