Barcelona has parted ways with Eric Abidal as sporting director.

A former player, since rejoining the club in 2018 he has overseen a huge outlay with diminishing returns, drawing severe criticism.

Abidal attracted criticism for his handling of the departure of Ernesto Valverde in January.

Abidal was publicly criticized by Messi after he blamed the players for Valverde’s departure and claimed that some “don’t like working”.