Jordi Cruyff hits back after criticism of Ajax's transfer policy: 'People don't understand it!'

Jordi Cruyff has rejected claims that Ajax are taking major risks with their transfer policy. Speaking to ESPN, the technical director made it clear he sees things very differently.

Ajax brought in big names such as Marc ter Stegen and Julian Brandt to much fanfare. Marcos Leonardo also arrived in Amsterdam for just under twenty million euros.

Cruyff signed eleven new players for Ajax, while seventeen also left. The technical director's spending has come under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks.

"Well, I actually think no risk is being taken at all," he begins. "The risk is paying a transfer fee from club to club. If it goes wrong, then you can no longer negotiate."

For Cruyff, the key is that the club can still act if a deal does not work out. "Players you sign on a free transfer and give a one-year contract. If it does not work out, then you can negotiate. If they have a two-year contract, then you give the players forty to fifty per cent and then you can terminate it. So there is no risk at all."

Then the 52-year-old Amsterdam native hit back hard at the criticism. "But people do not understand it. If you have worked in Spain with Spanish fair play, which is the toughest in Europe, then you do know how to minimise risks at times."

Ajax's financial situation is also forcing him to be creative in the transfer market, according to Cruyff. He sees a loan deal with an option to buy as another way of limiting the club's risk.

"I actually think that when I can loan a player with an option to buy, in other words: I can take a good look at him and study him for a year, and only then decide. I see that as a minimisation of risks. Risk is buying and hoping it goes well," he concludes.