Eric Abidal is on ‘the edge of the abyss’ at Barcelona and could lose his job as sporting director at the club, according to reports.

Marca cite Catalan radio station RAC1 as carrying the news that the Frenchman is on the brink of being dismissed and is set to meet with the club’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu today.

Abidal has been at the club in a technical role since 2018 and assumed his position last summer with Ramon Planes as his deputy, after the departure of Pep Segura and the resignation of vice-president Jordi Mestre.

Former France international defender Abidal hit out at the work ethic of the club’s players in interviews with Diario Sport and El Mundo Deportivo on Tuesday, saying that was a major reason he decided to dismiss Ernesto Valverde last month.

“I watched the games and didn’t look at the result,” Abidal told Sport in the controversial interview.

“But I looked at how the games were played, the tactics and the work of the players who didn’t play much.

“I looked at those details.

“Many players were not satisfied or weren’t working hard and there was also an internal communication issue.

“The coach and dressing room relationship has always been good, but there are things that I can smell as a former player.

“I told the club what I thought and they had to make a decision.”

Valverde was dismissed in mid-January, though Abidal explained that the operation was in the works for about a month.

“It was a club decision,” Abidal explained.

“But we already saw that the problem was internal.”It’s never easy to make these decisions, but after El Clasico on December 18 we began to specify things surrounding his departure.”