Diego Maradona tells Pele: Lionel Messi lacks the character to be a leader

Diego Maradona has blasted his compatriot and former player Lionel Messi on Live TV without knowing he was being recorded, claiming the Barcelona star lacks the character to be a leader for the national team. 

At the "Hublot Loves Football" event in Paris on Thursday, Brazil legend Pele asked Maradona if he knew Lionel Messi personally, and Maradona spoke his mind.

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forgetting he was on live TV.

"He's a really good person, but he has no personality," Maradona said.

"He lacks [the] character to be a leader."

Pele responded: "Ah, I get it, he's not like we were back in the days. In the 70s we [Brazil] had really good players like Rivellino, Gerson, Tostao. 

"Not like Argentina now, which depends only on Messi. He [Maradona] is saying that Messi is a good player, there's no doubt about it, but he has no personality."