Lionel Messi ‘tired’ of being blamed for problems in Barcelona

In the last one year, Lionel Messi has had a torrid relationship with FC Barcelona. His relationship with former FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and the way how the club was managed was one of the starting points of this turbulence. Lionel Messi also wanted to leave the club but the chaotic way of how it was handled further soured relationships between him and the club where he has been for close to 20 years. Now, speculations have further grown with the latest statement made by Lionel Messi after the Argentina player returned from international duty. Argentina defeated Peru 2-0 while Brazil defeated Uruguay in the latest round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in South America.

Messi's remark came as Antoine Griezmann’s uncle Emmanuel Lopes criticised Messi for being the root cause of all problems at Barcelona. After returning to Spain from the international break, Messi also had an encounter with a tax inspector who was seeking documentation beforehand

Prior to the match between Argentina vs Peru, Eric Olhats, the former agent of Antoine Greizmann had said last week that Lionel Messi had too much control at Barcelona and had failed to help accommodate Griezmann at the club. Olhats accused him of running a "regime of terror" at the club. When the reporters asked Lionel Messi at the airport, Messi responded bluntly, “I am tired of always being the problem with everything that goes on at this club.”

Not much impact

Griezmann had made a switch from Atletico Madrid to Barcelona but the attacker has not been able to repeat his success for the Catalan side. As a result, Griezmann’s uncle and agent defended him and the duo went on to criticise Messi."Griezmann was convinced that he wasn’t going to be successful within the first six months, but what I didn`t expect was that it would last an entire year," Lopes told El Chiringuito, as reported by Goal.com.

"Besides, with Messi, I know what’s going on inside - it`s not easy. Basically, Messi doesn’t work hard enough at Barca and the training sessions are structured in order to please certain people, which is fine if you don’t want to work," he added. Earlier this year, Messi and Barcelona had a bad fallout as the Argentine striker wanted to leave the club, but in the end, he stayed with the club as he did not want to settle matters in court.

Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned in October and a new president will not be elected until late January. Their first task will be to convince Messi that they can build a winning team around him for the final years of his career. As things stand, Messi will be able to negotiate a pre-contract with any club in January and can leave for free next June.