Antoine Griezmann has said that Lionel Messi was angered by his initial decision to reject a move to Barcelona.

Griezmann said this to clear the air on reports that he has been having a bad relationship with Messi since he moved to the club from Atletico Madrid.

He said that he had a long conversation with Messi before he finally decided to join the club.

“When I signed for the club I asked for forgiveness for delaying the move and saying I wouldn’t join Barcelona,” Griezmann told Jorge Valdano on the latest edition of Universo Valdano.

“I told Lionel Messi that I would give everything on the pitch for the club.

“I spoke with Leo when I arrived and he told me that when I turned down the first chance to go, he was screwed because he had asked for it publicly, but he told me he was with me and I notice it every day.“

The Frenchman’s former agent Eric Olhats and uncle Emmanuel Lopes have been in the media of late with claims that he doesn’t enjoy a good relationship with Messi.

“He (Olhats) was very important in my life but I don’t have a relationship with him anymore,” Griezmann said.

“I stopped having any relationship with him since the day I got married. I invited him to the wedding day, and he didn’t come. That’s why I stopped having a relationship with him. 

“My uncle doesn’t know how football works. And in the end, the journalist ended up getting the statement out of him. I told Leo that I never speak to them, in fact, I don’t even have my uncle’s phone number. 

“My parents don’t talk to Eric either, so who is going to talk to him? He can do a lot of damage, and create problems in the dressing room.”