Jordi Cruyff reveals the key to Barça's success in the transfer window

FC Barcelona sporting director Jordi Cruyff, has explained some of the key aspects of the club's success when it came to reinforcing the squad in the summer transfer market. The Barcelona executive highlighted the enormous impact that the club has on world football to explain why it prevailed in the bid for signings against other clubs that currently have greater economic potential.

Jordi Cruyff gave an interview to the journalist Guillem Balagué in the days leading up to the Cruyff Legacy Summit to be held on September 21 in Amsterdam, which pays tribute to the legendary Johan Cruyff on the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Johan Cruyff Foundation.

The Barcelona executive recalled that in this past summer market, "the signings had better offers than Barça's", but the dream of playing at the Camp Nou was a weapon in Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff himself’s armoury. "Barcelona is a magnet, it's nice. You can see the pride in the players' eyes when they have the opportunity to sign for Barcelona and that has helped a lot to compete with clubs with bigger budgets and better salaries.”

Xavi Hernández has been able to incorporate top-level footballers such as Lewandowski, Koundé, Raphinha, Marcos Alonso, Christensen, Kessié and Bellerín, even though Barça's financial situation was complicated. The key was that "they wanted to sign for Barcelona and we are very grateful to them because, I assure you, they had better offers than ours. Even so, they chose to follow their dream of being part of history," said Cruyff.

President Joan Laporta and his board of directors had to make a huge effort, at the negotiating level, to find ways to finance all these signings, using the so-called 'levers', and thus adhering to the rules established by La Liga. Jordi Cruyff commented in this regard in the interview that he has perceived that "99% of the people (in the football world) do not understand Spanish financial fair play rules, how this puzzle has to be put together.”

In this sense, Barça's director of international scouting added that "you won't understand it in an hour, it's more complex and complicated. Even when you have money, you can't spend it." Jordi Cruyff says that "the news that has come out about us is not always accurate and I understand that people listen to that and think that what Barcelona has done may not be elegant.”

On the pitch, Cruyff is proud that the work of the summer has helped improve the squad and that Xavi Hernández can begin to take advantage of all this. "The team has started very well, with the coach doing a very good job. (Xavi) He has a positive headache... he has a good squad to choose from." 

The Barcelona executive has noted how, when Barça is doing well, "the city is alive again. Even for the smallest matches, the Camp Nou is full and that shows the mood. You see how people are so happy with the players that have come in. You feel like you’re alive again and this club needed it.”