International leaves footballer in difficulty (4)
I believe the answer is:
mess
'difficulty' is the definition.
(I know that mess is a type of difficulty)
'international leaves footballer' is the wordplay.
'international' becomes 'i' (abbreviation eg in IMF).
'leaves' is a deletion indicator.
'footballer' becomes 'messi' (footballer Lionel Messi).
'messi' with 'i' taken away is 'MESS'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for mess that I've seen before include "Officers' restaurant - what a dump" , "Disagreeable mixture" , "Dirty or untidy state" , "dish" , "Service dining-area" .)