Transfer News: Johan Cruyff slams Barcelona over Luis Suarez signing

Former Barcelona great Johan Cruyff has criticized the Catalan giants for signing Luis Suarez, another player that he feels will make the Spanish La Liga side betray the football style seen during the tenors of managers Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola.

The Dutchman hit out at Barcelona for what he termed as a misguided decision to seek the signature of the 27-year old Uruguay international from English side Liverpool.

He feels that the Catalans are rapidly discarding the kind of soccer that has brought them unrivalled glory in recent times.

The former Liverpool man – who cannot feature for Barcelona till 26th of October due to a FIFA ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup match – is set to put pen to paper on a five-year contract with the Nou Camp side after both football giants Liverpool and Barca reached a final agreement on an 88-million euro transfer fee.

Barcelona president Josep-Maria Bartomeu says he cannot wait to see Suarez, Messi and Neymar working together in Barca’s attack this coming season which kicks off about a month from today.

But Cruyff believes that the club’s new striker may not be able to adapt to the Catalans’ style of play and instead will use his individual talent to move the team further away from what they were used to under Rijkaard and Guardiola.

The Barcelona icon also wrote in his column for the Dutch paper De Telegraaf that he is happy Germany clinched the World Cup title by playing the type of soccer that new manager Luis Enrique’s men are currently distancing themselves from.

The former Barcelona talisman wishes his former side would remain true to their soccer style during times of both highs and lows, when they are winning cups or not, and adds that this feeling has only become stronger with the arrival of Suarez at Camp Nou. He is skeptical that free-flowing attacking soccer is possible with Suarez, Messi and Neymar in one team since they all rely on individual efforts to shine.

Cruyff has also questioned the star striker’s behavior, terming him as a great player with a complicated character given his most recent altercation with FIFA for biting Chiellini during Uruguay’s last group match against Italy at the World Cup tournament in Brazil.

Suarez travels to Barcelona this week for a medical before signing a deal with the club that will last until at least June 2019.