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Javier Faus, the vice president in charge of Barcelona's finances, said that he didn't see a reason to further extend Lionel Messi's contract. Last year, the club extended the 26-year-old Messi's contract through 2018.

Lionel Messi criticised a Barcelona vice-president on Friday for saying the Argentina forward didn't deserve a better contract.

Javier Faus, the vice-president in charge of Barcelona's finances, said two weeks ago, that he didn't see a reason to further extend Messi's contract. Last year, the club extended the 26-year-old Messi's contract through 2018. (Messi and drug money? No way, say Barcelona)

"Mr. Faus is a person that doesn't know anything about football and wants to run Barcelona like a business, which it isn't," Messi told Catalan radio RAC1. "Barcelona is the best team in the world and deserves to be represented by the best executives.

"I remind him that neither I nor any of my representatives have asked for a contract extension at any moment, and he knows that very well." (Messi refutes money-laundering claims)

Messi is Barcelona's all-time leading scorer and a four-time FIFA world player of the year. He is in Argentina recovering from a hamstring injury and expected to return to Barcelona in January.

This is the first time Messi has openly criticised an important board member of the club he joined when he was 13 years old.

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said on Thursday, that he had not spoken to Messi about his contract, while adding "but my door is always open. I have no doubt that the best player in the world deserves to be the highest paid."