Marco van Basten has claimed the legendary Johan Cruyff would be ‘ashamed’ to see how Barcelona have conducted business this summer.
Barça have around €1.3bn in debt but have so far spent over €150m on transfer fees, activating various economic ‘levers’ to bring in cash and fund their recruitment.
Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong has also endured a tough summer, with Manchester United keen to do a deal and Barça keen to get him off their books – mainly due to the €17m they owe the Dutchman in deferred wages.
The late Cruyff was a revolutionary figure at both Ajax and Barcelona and remains one of the game’s most influential figures. Van Basten worked with him at Ajax and claimed the three-time Ballon d’Or winner would not agree with some of the measures taken by Barça in recent months.
He said: “I think Johan Cruyff would have been ashamed to see how Barça have behaved today. In my opinion, the behaviour of FC Barcelona has been well below their standards.”
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The Catalan giants have signed Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie this summer, but major outgoings have been kept to a minimum.
The new arrivals made a disappointing start to the new La Liga season on Saturday, drawing a blank in front of goal and being held to a goalless draw at Camp Nou by Rayo Vallecano.
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