FC Cincinnati doesn't have a firm answer on Fanendo Adi's future at the club, and Adi has his own reservations about staying, too.

Adi and FC Cincinnati aren't on the same page. Adi, who hasn't played since July 21 due to injuries and a lack of fitness – a point he disputes – has lodged a complaint of poor treatment against FCC through the Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA), as first reported by The Athletic.

In spite of all that, there's still a chance Adi could end up back at the club for the 2020 season, as General Manager Gerard Nijkamp suggested in an Aug. 27 interview. If a suitable agreement to move the player elsewhere can't be brokered, Adi will stay in the Queen City, Nijkamp said.

Speaking to media on Friday morning at the Mercy Health Training Center in Milford, Adi left open the possibility that he wouldn't necessarily go along with that plan.

"I don't know. I think that can only happen if I sit down with the management. Obviously, I would have to really, really sit down and clarify things I've heard," Adi said. "I think that's the only way."

Adi discussed the complaint against FC Cincinnati and went into greater detail about his relationships with head coach Ron Jans and Nijkamp.

The relationship with Nijkamp appears to be at the core of the rift between player and club, according to Adi's version of events.

"With Gerard, it's just a little bit complicated. The first meeting he had with us in the locker room, I think he did something very strange and he knows that. I don't need to expose everything but they know what he did and he knows what he did. I think I'm not going to tell him how to behave but I think he's a grown man and a family man as well and there's a way you talk to people. You don't talk to people that way... He said some things that were very hurtful. Some things that were like (a) personal vendetta without even knowing the person, so there's other things and I wish them the best. If I'm going to be here, I don't know. If I'm going to leave the club, I'm going to leave the club peacefully without any grudge. I'm very grateful... I always say I'm very grateful to Carl (Lindner III). He work on me so well, the fans work on me so well. I don't have a problem with that. I'm just sad because I'm not able to give back what they expected."

Of his relationship with head coach Ron Jans, Adi said he respected Jans but was disappointed with the manager.

"I don't have a problem with Ron. I think I was just disappointed with him," Adi said. "I told him. I had a meeting with him and I told him in his face because I'm someone that I don't hide my feelings and I tell you what I think. I told him I respect him as a man, but as a coach I don't respect him and that's just how I feel and that's the honest truth. I don't need to smile and be happy with you. I talk to you as a professional. I've never argued with him on the pitch."

FC Cincinnati did not comment to The Enquirer when reached on Friday regarding Adi's remarks.

Previously, an FC Cincinnati spokeswoman referred back to comments made by Nijkamp in the Aug. 27 interview. Speaking to The Enquirer, The Athletic and a club staff writer, Nijkamp said Adi's absences from the field were due a lack of fitness.

"A player in the process to be fit and can produce for the team and how the professionals are thinking about where he is – where we want to have him – and on what path he is on the roster. That's two completely different worlds," Nijkamp said. "Every player wants to play every day, also when there is no fitness, but we have a responsibility to ourselves... to bring the best team on the pitch."

Another option for Adi and FC Cincinnati would be a mutual parting of ways. On Friday, Adi was non-committal when asked if he'd be open to terminating his contract.

Adi's contract, which was the richest deal at FC Cincinnati this season at a base salary of $1,360,008, guarantees his stay at the club next season.

He'd have to forego that money, along with incentives, to outright terminate the deal.

"There's always a mutual way of agreeing things," Adi said. "I felt something was done. Alright, that doesn't mean we can't come to an agreement. We can always come to an agreement. I'm still here. I'm still under the contract with the club. Whatever the club chooses to do, I'm open to that. I think that I also saw that he (Nijkamp) is very open to having me moved, so I'm open to any possibility."