Lionel Messi future at Barcelona in doubt as club endure torrid start to the year

Barca sack sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, his assistant Carlos Puyol quits, and Messi misses training after defeat to Sociedad

Uncertain: There is still plenty of doubt around Lionel messi's future at Barcelona

Barcelona sacked Andoni Zubizarreta as sporting director and Carles Puyol quit as his assistant less than 24 hours after their shock defeat against David Moyes’s Real Sociedad.

There were even fresh doubts over the future of Lionel Messi in what has proven a turbulent turn of the year at the Spanish giants.

Barcelona were scheduled to hold an emergency board meeting to discuss the club’s plight since the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld their one-year transfer ban for the illegal signing of under-age players.

That verdict piled the pressure on Zubizarreta, who had already been blamed for recruiting several flops this summer. His apparent attempt to place responsibility for the transfer ban on the shoulders of Josep Maria Bartomeu, the club president, during a television interview seemed to seal his fate.

The exit of Puyol quickly followed, months after his retirement as a player and subsequent appointment as Zubizarreta’s assistant.

The World Cup-winning defender wrote on Facebook: “I now want to experience other things from another perspective and from elsewhere. I want to grow both personally and professionally so that, in the future, hopefully I can return.”

In contrast, Zubizarreta’s departure after four years as sporting director was confirmed by the club. “The FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has decided to terminate as of today the contract of the club’s director of football, Andoni Zubizarreta,” they said of their former goalkeeper, who earned 126 caps for Spain.

“The president, in the name of the club, thanks Andoni Zubizarreta for his contribution, dedication and professionalism over the last four years in his role at the head of the club’s football area.”

Manager Luis Enrique’s position is not thought to be under threat despite reports of a confrontation between star player Messi and Barca’s board over the authoritarian approach of the club’s former midfielder.

Messi missed training on Monday due to a stomach upset but remains linked in Spain with a summer move to Chelsea, Manchester City or Paris St-Germain. Barcelona would not be able to replace him until 2016 after CAS dismissed an appeal against the Fifa ban imposed on them in April for breaching rules on signing players aged under 18. They were also fined 450,000 Swiss francs (£300,000).

The club said that they “totally disagree” with the sanction which they called “disproportionate” and “excessive”. The Catalan side acknowledged making “errors” but said that these were caused by “conflict between Fifa regulations and Spanish legislation”.

Under Zubizarreta’s watch as sporting director Barcelona won the Spanish league title twice, in 2011 and 2013, and the Champions League in 2011. But last year, they won no major silverware and several signings carried out by Zubizarreta have not produced the hoped for results.

Thomas Vermaelen, recruited in August from Arsenal, underwent surgery last month on his troublesome right hamstring and will be sidelined for four months.

Barcelona crashed 1-0 at Real Sociedad on Sunday with the Catalan side paying the price for leaving both Messi and Neymar on the bench.

A third league defeat of the season meant they remained a point behind leaders Real Madrid having also played a game more than the European champions.