Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 6y

Jordi Cruyff: Barcelona sporting director role 'only rumours'

Jordi Cruyff says the timing must be right if he is to return to Barcelona as the club's sporting director in the future.

Diario Sport reported in April that Cruyff, the son of Barca legend Johan, has been lined up by the Catalan club to work alongside general manager Pep Segura.

Barca's current sporting director is Robert Fernandez but he is out of contract in the summer and president Josep Maria Bartomeu recently said his position would be "analysed" at the end of the season. 

Cruyff, 44, will leave his role as Maccabi Tel Aviv coach at the end of the season but insists no decision has been taken over his next move yet.

"I think in the last 12 to 18 months there has always been that rumour coming up," Cruyff told Sky Sports of the links to Barcelona.

"Previously, in other years, there have been talks [with Barca], maybe not about that role specifically.

"We'll see what's going to happen because it's a club near my heart, but sometimes that's not enough reason to make a decision like this.

"The timing has to be right, and we're not really in a situation to give a clear answer on that. We'll see, so far it's only rumours."

Cruyff spent two years playing for Barcelona's first team in the mid-1990s before moving to Manchester United. He also played for Celta Vigo, Alaves, Espanyol, Metalurh Donetsk and Valletta.

Upon retiring, he was named sporting director at AEK Larnaca in Cyprus, where he spent two years before taking on the same role at Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2012.

After five years as a sporting director in Israel, where he helped turned Maccabi's fortunes around, he became the club's first team coach in 2017, a post he will leave in the summer.

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