DUTCH legend Johan Cruyff raised eyebrows when he said that Spanish champions Barcelona should consider selling idol Lionel Messi now that they have signed Brazilian Neymar. Cruyff is former captain and coach of Barcelona. “Now that Barca have signed Neymar, they should really consider selling Messi,” in order to “avoid a conflict of egos” between the two South American forwards. “I am all in favour of avoiding conflicts,” said Cruyff. “That’s why I wouldn’t have signed Neymar in the first place. But now that has been signed, the club should consider selling Messi.” Cruyff justified his controversial point by adding: “Neymar and Messi are both free-kick specialists. Who is going to take them from now on? Besides, Neymar and Barca have a deal with Nike whilst Messi is with Adidas. These are situations that could cause problems.” When asked why Messi reportedly had problems playing alongside Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cruyff said: “It seems that Messi is a bit of a dictator. When you have the possibility of being the best player in every game, you have to be a bit of a dictator because your prestige is on the line. “The pressure on Messi is enormous because the fans want to see him doing marvellous things.” Regarding the charges of tax evasion brought against Messi by the public prosecutor’s office, Cruyff commented: “They have picked on Messi so that other people are afraid of them.” Cruyff, 66, played for Barca from 1973 to 1978 then coached the Catalans from 1988 to 1996. In 2010 he was controversially appointed President of Honour by club president Joan Laporta, only for Sandro Rosell to eliminate the post months later when he took over as president.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 06:31:50 +0000
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