Fascinating interview with former Dutch and Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff on Spain’s Radio Cope’s ‘El Partido de las 12’.
Last week, while on international duty, Messi hinted that his future might lie away from the Camp Nou, and Cruyff was asked about the relationship between Messi and FC Barcelona Here are some of his answers:
What is the relationship between Messi and Barca?
“The management always support him. I have never heard the Board of Directors say that Messi has to pull his socks up or that there is a problem. So there’s no reason for him to be annoyed, but maybe things are always happening with Messi that we don’t know about.”
Will Messi leave Barça?:
“The only person that can make any decisions about this is Messi. I imagine that there are clubs willing to pay €200 million for him, but he has no financial problems and so he won’t be lured away by money.”
Do Barça want to sell Messi?:
“There are always rumours, but what we never know is just how true they are. What I imagine really annoys Messi are his run-ins with the tax authorities, because the whole thing is linked to the club and he is being investigated every three or four years. They are unpleasant things, not too worrying but annoying.”
Luis Enrique’s Barça:
“They don’t play a bad game, because it seems that to play as well as last year, you have to look at every small detail and when a team has four or five new players, they have to adjust; the team’s not doing so badly.”
Will Laporta go back to presiding over Barça?
“He’s not asked me about it, nor does he have to.”
