Cruyff speaks about Barça, Messi and new boss Enrique

Johan Cruyff has been speaking about all things Barcelona in an interview with the Mallorca-based newspaper 'Ultima Hora'. Here are the highlights of what the former Barça boss had to say.

The €163m spent on signings

Cruyff showed a certain amount of caution in regard to Barcelona's flexing of their financial muscles this summer:

“[Barca have] gone in a new direction and we have to give them the benefit of the doubt," he said. “They've spent a lot of money, which always brings a lot of scrutiny, and we'll have to see how it goes.”

Lionel Messi

"Messi has gone from top to bottom in each season, but he needs help to get up and he has not had much recently. 

"We hope that Luis Enrique can get him back on track with what he has to do. Leo has a lot of quality, but most of all his living situation has changed a lot.

"Before, when he was 18, he was small and now he has gone from poor to multi-millionaire and these changes can be brutal." 

Madrid signings vs. Barça signings

"Madrid have a lot of quality and the options they have in attack are really good. Barça always used to sign lots of ball players, but now Madrid have done so."

Luis Enrique

"I see him with an eagerness to work hard, do things well and to give everything to his new role.

"It is on him to win over the players, though. You can bet he won't win over one or two and that's when he'll have to make some tough, strong decisions.”