FORMER Barcelona manager
Johan Cruyff believes the Catalan club should plan for the possibility
of selling Lionel Messi now that they have signed Neymar.
Neymar arrived at the Nou Camp on June 3,
signing a five-year contract for €57million from Santos, but Cruyff
believes the 21-year-old Brazilian forward will struggle to work
alongside Argentinian Messi in Tito Vilanova's frontline.
Cruyff told Marca: "With Neymar signed, I
would have planned for the possibility of selling Messi. Some would
agree with that, others not.
"You are talking about a team, its
players, the things around it... There are too many things at stake.
That's why it's so difficult to manage such a top-class squad."
Cruyff believes it will be difficult to
satisfy two prodigious talents like Messi and Neymar on the same pitch,
and that problems could also occur due to the two players having
contracts with different sponsorship arrangements.
"It's like the free-kicks. Neymar is very
good at taking them, and Messi has already shown he is. Who's going to
take them?" he said.
"Or the fact that Neymar and Barcelona are with Nike while Leo is with Adidas. These are situations that could cause problems."
Cruyff, who both played for and managed
Barcelona, leading them to their first ever European Cup in 1992, added
that he would not get excited about Neymar playing for the club until
he had watched several games with him in the side.
"We'll have to wait and see," he added. "He is talented but we'll have to see how he gets on with everyone. That's a problem.
"It could turn out well or badly. It's a risk. I wouldn't have signed Neymar."
Messi has struggled to develop a
blossoming on-field relationship with any of his striking partners,
including Bojan Krkic, Samuel Eto'o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and
David Villa. Three of those players have since left the club, while
Villa failed to hold down a place in the first team last season.
"Depending on how you view it, it can seem that Messi is a dictator," said Cruyff.
"When you have the chance to be the best
player on the pitch in every game you have to be a bit of a dictator,
because you are not just concerned about your team, you are concerned
about yourself and your prestige.
"Therefore the pressure on Messi is huge
because everyone in the stadium wants to see him perform miracles. And
for him to pull off miracles, things have to work in his favour
