Lionel Messi admits he sees “weird things happening” at Barcelona after the club president was forced to deny accusations of unethical social media practices.

A Spanish radio station claimed the La Liga champions hired a social media firm to criticise key figures associated with the club in a bid to protect the reputation of the president, Josep Maria Bartomeu.

It was suggested I3 Ventures had been hired to publish stories that damaged the image of several players and ex-players, after they had criticised Bartomeu.

Barcelona denied any wrongdoing in a statement on Monday night, with Bartomeu saying on the club website on Tuesday: “In [the] first place, and so that no one is left in any doubt, Barça has not contracted any services to disparage neither players, nor politicians, nor former presidents. It is completely false.

“We will defend ourselves wherever necessary via all means at our disposal against anyone who accuses [us] of such practices.”

While admitting they had worked with the company, Barcelona have denied all suggestions that they have acted against the club’s players.

Messi, in an interview with the Catalan sports publication Mundo Deportivo as reported by L’Equipe, says he will wait to see if there is any truth in the accusations after Bartomeu’s statement.

“I was a little surprised because I was not present, I was travelling,” Messi said. “When I arrived, I discovered it all bit by bit. The president told us the same things he said in public, the same things he said at a press conference: what was the situation, what had happened. And I cannot say more.

“The truth is that I see weird things happening. But it was also said that there would be evidence. We will have to wait to see if it is true or not. We can’t say much and we have to wait and see what happens. Frankly, the subject seems strange to me.”

The social media row comes just a few weeks after Messi spoke out against the sporting director, Eric Abidal, who had suggested the players did not work hard enough under the former manager Ernesto Valverde.

Valverde was sacked in January, with Quique Setién brought in as manager until the end of the season. That brought about doubts over the 32-year-old’s future at the Nou Camp but Messi expressed his happiness in the city.

“I love Barcelona although I miss Rosario very much,” he added. “This is my house, I was here longer than in Argentina. I love Barcelona, the place where I live, Castelldefels, and I live a life that I like very much.”