Jordi Cruyff quits Barcelona to explore new opportunities

17 May, 2023

The Cruyff family has a long-lasting connection with FC Barcelona, which began with the late-great Johan Cruyff stepping into Camp Nou as a player and later managing them to their first Champions League title. Johan’s son Jordi Cruyff is a former academy and senior team player as well, who served as a director at the club.

However, it seems like the Cruyff era at Barcelona to end come to an end with Jordi Cruyff deciding to quit his role after his contract expires this summer. The Dutchman had been serving as the sporting director for Barça since 2022. Before this role, Cruyff was a strategic advisor for Barcelona, but his role in the club was last year. Follow your favourite La Liga team with attractive football betting odds from Nextbet.

“FC Barcelona’s sporting director, Jordi Cruyff, will not renew his contract with the club at the end of the current season due to the desire to undertake new professional projects. 

“This is what he communicated this morning to the president of the entity, Joan Laporta, in an emotional meeting in which Cruyff argued his departure in search of new challenges after two seasons at Barca. The club thanks Jordi Cruyff for his important contribution as a member of the Sports Commission and wishes him the best of luck in his new professional path,” the club statement said.

Along with the club president and Mateu Alemany, Cryuff is believed to be one of three key figureheads for Barcelona. The three have been responsible for the club’s policies in the transfer market along with their economic policies and decisions.

However, Cruyff’s future at the club has been in doubts for a while, with his contract expiry on the cusp and the club considering multiple cost-cutting ways. And it was also being claimed that the 49-year-old was considering not renewing his deal at Barcelona. This update comes only a few days after it was reported that Cruyff and manager Xavi Hernandez were in a disagreement over the potential signing of former La Masia wonderkid Xavi Simons.

The Dutchman is said to be very keen on signing Simons at the end of the season. But Xavi does not see things the same way when it comes to the PSV Eindhoven talent. It has been reported that this could be one of the reasons behind the current tussle between both these gentlemen.

With experiences in clubs such as Barcelona, Maccabi Tel Aviv and AEK Larnaca, Cruyff’s executive prowess is rated highly in European football. He had, in fact, also served with the Ecuador national team for a brief period. Nevertheless, Cruyff’s potential exit could bring about a major change in the power dynamics within the club. So it will be interesting to see how things transpire over the coming weeks.

Barcelona, who have won their first La Liga title in four years, have a major financial settlement to take care of next season if they wish to sign new players. Get all the latest updates from the La Liga only on Nextbet Sports.