Alex Hleb has lifted the lid on why he believes Barcelona sold Ronaldinho and Deco during his time at the club.

He played just 36 games during his four-year spell with the club, though was part of Pep Guardiola's squad during the 2008/09 campaign before going on loan to Stuttgart, Birmingham City and Wolfsburg.

However, Hleb openly discussed his time in Catalonia on Belarusian television and named and shamed a couple of players.

"Ronaldinho and Deco turned up drunk to training," Hleb stated on the programme 'Skameika osnovij' on 'Belorusski Futbol'.

"You know why Barcelona sold them in 2008? Because they were afraid they would ruin [Lionel] Messi."

The 38-year-old also claimed that he never wanted to play for the Catalan side.

"I didn't want to sign for Barcelona, I wanted to stay at Arsenal or join Bayern [Munich]," said Hleb.

"But my agent insisted that [Pep] Guardiola had called again, and in the end..."