Cruyff reveals Barca signings rejected bigger offers

Jordi Cruyff

, the

sporting director, hit back at the criticism of the club adding a lot of new signings this summer.

Notwithstanding worries regarding the financial issues of the club, the Blaugrana signed with Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso.

Xavi’s new side have been doing great this season, grabbing 13 points from five games in the

, but many were surprised how they went against their rivals in the transfer market.

Raphinha and Kounde, for example, attracted the attention of

before making a move to Barcelona.

"Barcelona has a magnet, it is beautiful,"

Cruyff told Guillem Balague before the Cruyff Legacy Summit.

"You can see the pride in the eyes of the players when they get a chance to sign for Barcelona and that has helped a lot, being able to compete with clubs with bigger budgets and better salaries.

"They wanted to sign for Barcelona, and we are very grateful for these players because, believe me, they had better offers than us.

"And still they chose to follow their dream to be part of history. When you see the eyes shining in these players you know you are in a special place."

La Liga is controlling the salary very strictly, which means Barca had to wait to register some of their new players. Cruyff hit back at the criticism and their lack of understanding, saying: "I have noticed 99 per cent of the people don't understand Spanish financial fair play, how to fit that puzzle.

"It is something you won't understand in one hour, it is more complex and complicated. Even when you have money, you can't spend it.

"The news that has come out about us is not always accurate, and I understand people listen to that and think what Barcelona has done is maybe not elegant.

"That is a question of understanding fair play. Our job was to, inside the strict rules of Spanish football, improve the team. Now we have a squad that can compete with everything."

He also thinks Barca’s summer purchases had the future in mind, and he also added:

"Most of the players we have brought in have a lot of years in front [of them], have a transfer value.

"We have made financially good decisions because you can see in the last week of the window how values have gone up.

"We have a squad for the future. The future is here and the present is here. We have things we need to improve, but the club had to make that decision in the summer.

"January 2022 was not a moment to buy four or five players and repair what we needed to repair. In January we looked at the short term, now we looked at short, middle and long term.

"The team has started really well, with the manager doing a really good job. He has a positive headache... he has a good squad to choose from.

"If that continues the right way, the city is alive again. Even for the smaller games, it's a sell-out and that shows the mood. You see how the people are so happy with the players that have joined. You feel it is alive again, and this club needed that."

Follow

for the