Jordi Cruyff claims Barcelona’s signings ‘had better offers’ and rejected ‘clubs with bigger budgets

Jordi Cruyff insists that Barcelona‘s new signings this summer turned down better alternatives in order to be part of the Catalan club’s set up. 

The Barcelona sporting director claimed that recent arrivals such as Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde rejected offers from elsewhere to join Barca, despite their well-documented financial woes. 

The Blaugrana made seven signings in a surprisingly hectic window at the Nou Camp, with an outlay of more than £137million, according to Transferkmarkt. 

Jordi Cruyff (right) claims Barca’s signings rejected offers from clubs with ‘bigger budgets’

Cruyff told Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague: ‘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 the history. When you see the eyes shining in these players you know you are in a special place.’

Throughout the summer, the LaLiga side consistently got one over on Premier League giants Chelsea, beating them to Jules Kounde and Raphinha as well as luring Marcos Alonso and Andreas Christensen from west London. 

Jules Kounde, 23, was a primary target for Chelsea before signing for the Catalan giants

Andy Cruyff’s words begin to ring true when read alongside the comments of Raphinha, after the Brazilian forward suggested he had chosen Barca over the Blues.

The 25-year-old said: ‘I talked to Neymar about a move and he told me that if I get to Barcelona then I won’t regret and he was right.

‘I rejected Chelsea because my dream was to wear the Barcelona shirt.’

Polish striker Lewandowski was also in demand this summer, turning down a proposed contract extension at former club Bayern Munich to force through the move to Barca. 

Robert Lewandowski turned down Bayern Munich and Raphinha rejected a Chelsea offer

And it is against Bayern that the Catalan giants are next in action on Tuesday, September 13 at the Allianz Arena, with the Bavarians on a three-match winless run for the first time under Julian Nagelsmann. 

Barca’s stock has taken a hit of late, with the departure of Lionel Messi to PSG, their high-profile financial crisis, failed attempts to force out several players, and a torrid time under Ronald Koeman before his eventual sacking last season. 

But Cruyff’s suggestion – echoed by the words of Raphinha – would suggest that they are very much on the rise again off the pitch.