Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said that Lionel Messi will retire at the club despite recent controversies.

Messi recently clashed with club executive Eric Abidal, and also said that the squad is not good enough to win the Champions League.

"Messi will continue at Barca and Messi will retire at Barca. I don't have the belief that he's feeling alone [at the club]. I know many people have said that, but I don't think it's the case," said Bartomeu.

Bartomeu added that the club are in a transition phase.

"We're in a transition phase with new generations coming through, with players from the B team and players we've signed from elsewhere.

"It's not easy to combine the in-house talent with those coming from elsewhere at different ages. ... But I am not satisfied, even though we're top of the league and going well in the Champions League. Results are OK but improvement is needed. And it will come. We always expect more and we're ambitious about improving in the coming games."