FC Barcelona crisis deepens as Messi's 'regime of terror' exposed by Griezmann's former agent

FC Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann's former agent, Eric Olhats, has spoken up to slam Lionel Messi and his "regime of terror" at Camp Nou. According to Olhats, Messi is the reason why his former client has been unable to realise his full potential since joining the Catalan giants in the summer of 2019.

Expectations were high when the Frenchman moved to Barcelona from La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid. However, Griezmann's arrival has been underwhelming, and many are questioning his compatibility on the pitch with Barca's captain.

Olhats says that the problem is Messi's attitude, not the compatibility of the two players. "He arrived at a club with major problems where Messi controls everything," Olhats told France Football.

The agent also claims that Messi was unhappy with his former ward's arrival at the club, and did not hesitate to make this known. He called Messi "both an emperor and a monarch," who controls everything in the dressing room and on the pitch. He even went on to say that Messi's "attitude has been deplorable."

To further support his claims about Messi's "regime of terror," Olhats says that Messi refused to speak to Griezmann in the locker room and also refused to pass him the ball on the pitch. He also pointed out that Messi never openly spoke about having nothing against Griezmann, even though the Frenchman has always insisted that there are no problems between him and his captain.

To explain this, Olhats claims that Griezmann has chosen the peaceful solution instead of locking horns with the Barca superstar. "He has never been in conflict with anybody, he's not like that. And it's not because of a lack of courage or personality. He just loves football and nothing else, he doesn't want to get into fights with anybody. For him, getting into a war is useless," he said.

Furthermore, Olhats believes that Griezmann, whom he worked with until 2016, can eventually flourish and get his career on track.

"It's the club that is ill, not him," concluded Olhats.