Jordi Cruijff is satisfied with the transfer summer of Barcelona. As a trainer, Xavi was served at his beck and call with a substantial quality boost from his selection. Cruijff is happy that the new signings eventually chose Barça.
That Barcelona has had a hectic summer transfer window can safely be called an understatement. With Robert Lewandowski, Jules Koundé, Raphinha, Franck Kessié, Andreas Christensen, Hector Bellerín and Marcos Alonso, a total of seven players arrived. At the same time, Barça was struggling with financial concerns.
Sporting director Cruijff thinks it is unfair that Barcelona is criticized for the transfer policy. “99 percent of people don’t understand how the puzzle works,” he tells the BBC. “The news about us was not always accurate. I understand that people who read that think that what Barcelona did may not have been right.” According to Cruijff, the fact that the Catalans were able to considerably strengthen the selection is partly due to concessions made by the new acquisitions. “We are grateful to these players because they had better offers than ours.”
“Barcelona is a magnet, that’s great,” Cruijff continues. “You can see the pride in the players’ eyes when they get the chance to sign for Barcelona and that has helped a lot to compete with clubs with bigger budgets who can offer higher salaries. Trust me, they’ve gotten better offers. Yet they chose to follow their dream of being part of Barcelona’s history.”