Talk of Lionel Messi dominated the transfer window for a couple of weeks.

The Barcelona superstar expressed his desire to leave Camp Nou, sending shockwaves through the football world.

Messi was under the impression he could leave for free by activating a special clause in his contract, while the Blaugrana demanded his €700m buyout be paid. 

In the end, to avoid dragging the issue through court, the Argentine announced that he's going to stay for one more season - but he's not too happy about it. 

Last Saturday, the six-time Ballon d'Or winner returned to action for the first time since his U-turn, featuring in a pre-season friendly against Gimnastic de Tarragona. 

Messi didn't get on the scoresheet in Barcelona's 3-1 win, but he did clash with an opponent at full-time. 

According to Gimnastic midfielder Javier Ribelles, the Argentine called him an 'a**hole' for kicking him during the match.  

Messi was annoyed at being kicked around

"What are you doing, idiot? Do you want to stop kicking me, a**hole?" Messi said, according to Ribelles.

In an attempt to defuse the situation, the Gimnastic player responded to Leo's x-rated rant by saying:

"It's that if you're the best I have to kick you, I can't let you turn because you're going to beat me." 

Messi is almost impossible to stop

Let's be honest, Messi has been dealing with that kind of treatment for most of his career. 

Normally, he's quite calm in his response - and lets his feet do the talking. But after his failed move from Barcelona, it seems he's in no mood to be kicked around. 

Plus, it was a pre-season friendly. There's no need to risk any injury in a game like that. 

Messi wanted to avoid injury

But if Messi continues to get kicked around in La Liga when the season starts, we could see this side of him come out again.