Argentina are blessed with some of the finest attacking talent in world football.

Paulo Dybala, Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero, Mauro Icardi and Gonzalo Higuain are all world-class options for manager Lionel Scaloni.

And yet they're so reliant on Lionel Messi, who has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the national team since their disappointing performance at the 2018 World Cup.

Messi was burdened with the weight of expectation in Russia and was unable to take Argentina any further than the last 16.

Unfortunately for the Barcelona forward, there's only so much he can do when his international teammates just not good enough.

Argentina were without their star man for the recent friendlies against Guatemala and Colombia and they decided to make Messi's No.10 shirt unavailable to the players.

It was a decision that confused Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero: "The No.10 jersey has always been used. I don't understand why it's not being used now.

NO.10 BELONGS TO MESSI

"I haven't asked. I haven't inquired. I had no idea that it wasn't going to be used. In all the friendlies, it has always been available. Probably, for some reason, it will not be used now. I just found out."

It's claimed Argentina didn't make the No.10 available out of respect to Messi - and now they've made another decision that shows how much he means to them.

According to Scaloni, no one will wear Messi's iconic jersey until he's made a final decision on his international future, which might not be until 2019.

It's unclear whether the 31-year-old will even play in next year's Copa America, so it's unlikely we'll see an Argentina player wearing the No.10 anytime soon.

"Most of the players that went to the World Cup have kept their numbers," said Scaloni on Tuesday. "In this case, Argentina No.10 belongs to Messi until he says whether or not he will continue.

"In principle, we do not have a negative [answer] from him. I have made the decision that nobody uses it.

"In the future we will see what happens. For now, nobody has the No.10 because it's exclusively for him and I made the decision."

Argentina are so desperate for Messi to return and them reserving the No.10 just proves he has all the power.