Cruyff slams Barcelona over Suarez transfer

The Dutchman has criticised the Liga giants for signing another player he feels will see the side further betray the style of football seen under Pep Guardiola and Frank Rijkaard Barcelona icon Johan Cruyff has hit out at the Catalans for their decision to sign Luis Suarez from Liverpool and feels they are moving away from the style of play that brought them unrivalled success in recent years.

The Uruguay international - who will not be allowed to play for Barcelona until October 26 due to suspension - is set to sign a five-year deal with the Camp Nou side after both clubs reached an agreement over a transfer fee of €88 million.

Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu said he was relishing the prospect of watching Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi in Barca'a attack next season, but Cruyff believes the 27-year-old is another individual talent who will take the team further away from the style in which they played under Pep Guardiola and Fran Rijkaard.

"I am happy that Germany won the World Cup. They are playing the kind of football that Barcelona are distancing themselves from," Cruyff wrote in his column for De Telegraaf.

"That feeling has only gotten stronger with the signing of Luis Suarez. He is a great player, but has a complicated character.

"I don't know how they plan to play free-flowing attacking football with Messi, Neymar and Suarez in one team. They are all players who rely on their individual actions.

"Barcelona choose for individualism rather than a team playing good football. The style of play they developed under Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola is being abandoned."

Suarez will travel to Barcelona this week to undergo his medical before signing a contract until June 2019.