‘Chaos FC’.

That is what Barcelona is being dubbed right now following Lionel Messi’s remarkable outburst against club director and former teammate Eric Abidal.

It’s been a pretty turbulent campaign for Barca, who were widely criticised for their treatment of former manager Ernesto Valverde before they sacked him last month.

But their off-field problems have now hit a new low after Abidal gave an interview claiming certain Barca players were unhappy under Valverde and were not trying hard enough.

Messi wasn’t having any of it and demanded names.

“The man in charge of the sporting directorate explains that ‘lots of players were not satisfied and nor did they work much,'" Messi replied on Instagram.

“Honestly, I don’t like doing these things but I think that everyone has to be responsible for his acts and take responsibility for their own decisions. The players [are responsible for] what happens on the pitch, and we have been the first to recognise when we were not good. The people in the sporting directorate should also assume their responsibility and above all take ownership of the decisions they make.

“Finally, I think that when players are talked about, names should be given because, if not, we are all being dirtied and it feeds comments that are made and are not true.”

What happens next?

Reports suggest that Abidal could be sacked for his initial comments.

But could the unthinkable also happen and Messi leave the club at the end of the season?

Well, the Guardian confirms that Messi has a special clause in his contract that “enables him to unilaterally walk away for free at the end of the season”.

Wow.

With Messi seemingly unhappy with life at the Camp Nou at the moment, that genuinely looks a possibility in the summer.

Imagine snapping up Messi on a free transfer at the end of the season...