Jordi Cruyff

Johan Jordi Cruijff (anglicised to Cruyff; born 9 February 1974) is a Dutch-Spanish professional football manager and former player who last worked as the sporting director of professional football at Barcelona.

He is the son of famous footballer Johan Cruyff.

As a footballer, Cruyff played from 1992 through to 2010, including periods with Barcelona and Manchester United.

In 1992, Cruyff made his debut for Barcelona B in the Segunda División, becoming the team's top scorer alongside Óscar.

Two years later, Cruyff was promoted to the senior team during a pre-season tour in the Netherlands, where he scored hat-tricks against Groningen and De Graafschap.

On 4 September 1994, he made his top flight debut in a 2–1 defeat at Sporting Gijón.

On 2 November, he played against Manchester United in the Champions League, setting up the first goal for Hristo Stoichkov, as Barcelona won 4–0.

That season, Barcelona finished fourth in La Liga and Cruyff was one of the team's top scorers alongside Stoichkov and Koeman, despite not being a regular starter.

Cruyff scored the goal that guaranteed Barcelona played in Europe the following season.

Despite a positive start to the following campaign, Barcelona finished third, and were runners up in the Copa del Rey.

He earned nine caps for the Netherlands national team, playing at UEFA Euro 1996, and he won the Premier League title in 1997 while at Manchester United.

Cruyff played mainly as an attacking midfielder, although he could also perform as a second striker.

In his later years, notably with Metalurh Donetsk, he also played as a centre back.

After starting his career with Barcelona and playing for the Netherlands aged 22, Cruyff's career stalled while at Manchester United, as he appeared just 36 times in the league over four years largely because of injuries.

On 19 May 1996, he played his last game for the club against Celta Vigo, at the Camp Nou.

In August 1996, Cruyff signed with Manchester United for a fee of £1.4 million on a four-year contract.

He made his debut on 11 August in a 4–0 win over Newcastle United in the 1996 FA Charity Shield, and then played in a 3–0 win over Wimbledon, the opening league fixture of the 1996–97 FA Premier League.

Cruyff then scored on his next two appearances, helping the team to 2–2 draws against Everton and Blackburn Rovers.

He was a regular in the first team until the end of November 1996, when he suffered another knee injury.

Cruyff's spell at Manchester United was marked by injuries, but he played three games in the group stage of the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League.

He played eleven times and scored twice in 1998–99 season, before a loan deal with Celta Vigo took him back to Spain in January 1999, and thus denying him the chance to win the treble achieved by the club in May 1999.

He scored twice in eight games for the Spaniards before returning for United.

Cruyff's contract expired on 30 June 2000.

In four years, he had played a total of 57 games for United and scored eight goals.

After an initial agreement with Harry Redknapp's West Ham United fell through, Cruyff returned to Spain on a free transfer to Alavés.

His most successful period was arguably with Alavés, which he helped reach the 2001 UEFA Cup Final.

He also played for Celta Vigo, Espanyol and finished his playing career with Valletta in the Maltese Premier League.

Under his stewardship as Maccabi Tel Aviv's sporting director, the club regained its dominance in Israeli football.

With the Basque club, he reached the 2001 UEFA Cup Final, against Liverpool: despite being 2–0 and then 3–1 down, Alavés embarked on a spirited comeback and Cruyff's goal in the 89th minute tied the game at 4–4.

An own goal in extra time saw Liverpool lift the cup.

Cruyff continued to play for Alavés until the club was relegated at the end of 2002–03.

The following season, he joined Espanyol, being played regularly in his only season.

Cruyff decided against extending his contract with Espanyol and voluntarily left that summer.

He then trained with Bolton Wanderers, coached by Sam Allardyce, but failed a medical test.

After he temporarily retired in 2004, Cruyff made a return to professional football in 2006, playing two seasons at the Ukrainian side Metalurh Donetsk, where he played mainly as a centre back.

At the same time, he entered the fashion business, helping develop the Cruyff clothing brand.

His first league appearance came on 21 August 2008, in a 3–1 win over Birkirkara.

In mid-2009, Cruyff signed a three-year deal as a player-cum-assistant-manager of Maltese side Valletta, assisting first team coach Ton Caanen, a role he admitted he did not take to.

He made his debut on 26 July 2009, in a 3–0 win in the Europa League 2009–10 first qualifying round against Icelandic side Keflavík.

The team won consecutive league titles from 2012 to 2015, as well as regularly qualifying for the Europa League and Champions League.