Why La Pulga pulled out the peroxide

Barcelona's blonde bombshell Lionel Messi has revealed the reason behind his drastic change of hairstyle over the summer. 

The Argentina captain caused ripples throughout the world of football when he appeared with a platinum blonde do while on holiday with his family. 

And when quizzed about the dye-job, he affirmed that it was part of a time of soul-searching following his nation's Copa America failure. 

"One particularly tough day I dyed my hair, I had to start again from scratch. I said to myself, 'I have to make a clean break and start over", he explained during an interview with cult Argentine comedy figure 'Mingo' on Telefe's 'Polemica en el bar'. 

The star donned 'Mingo's' iconic hat and checked scarf during the chat, while he also saw the actor save one of his penalties. 

Messi also admitted that his young son Thiago might not be following in his footsteps, as he shows little interest in the beautiful game. 

"I try not to give Thiago balls as presents, he doesn't like football much," he said. 

"We'll see if he gets into it now as he's started playing in a club."