“I’m tired of always being the problem for everything at the club”

Lionel Messi has said he is “tired of always being the problem” at Barcelona.

Messi came close to leaving the club in the last transfer window and is yet to sign an extension to his contract, which expires next summer.

He came under fire recently from Antoine Griezmann’s former advisor Eric Olhats, who called Messi’s attitude “deplorable” and said he leads a “regime of terror” at Barcelona.

“Messi’s attitude has been deplorable, he has made him feel it. I’ve always heard Antoine say that he had no problems with Messi, but never the other way around. It is the regime of terror. Either you are with him, or you are against him.”

Barcelona news had been dominated by Messi’s demands to leave the club in the close-season and his future at the club beyond this current campaign is now unclear.

It comes after the Messi news that he confirmed he was staying at the Camp Nou for this season, although he clarified that he was less than happy to be doing so, after threatening to leave the club on a free transfer this summer.

The resignation of club president Josep Maria Bartomeu has left a power void on how to deal with contract extensions as interim president Carlos Tusquets is unlikely to negotiate such a significant move in his short-term stay, so the club’s position on his renewal is now lacking clarity.

It is unclear whether Messi was responding to those comments directly, but, after arriving back in Barcelona from international duty with Argentina, he told reporters: “I’m tired of always being the problem for everything at the club.”