Gheorghe Hagi has said that he had decided to join Barcelona in 1994 just because of Johan Cruyff who was the manager of Barcelona at that time.

Hagi played for Barcelona between 1994 and 1996. His tenure at Barcelona wasn’t that successful and he was sold by the club only after two years. He featured for Barcelona in only 36 games. But, according to the former Romanian midfielder, he enjoyed his tenure at Barca quite a lot.

While talking to the correspondent of a Romanian sports channel, Hagi said, “Johan Cruyff was the main reason why I joined Barcelona. He was just fantastic. He was in charge at Barca in 1994 and when I got the offer from him, I was more than happy to accept it.”

“I didn’t get too many playing opportunities during my two-year tenure at Barca, but, getting the opportunity to work with Johan Cruyff was like dream come true.”

“During my childhood days, I didn’t get to watch too many international matches, but, I knew that Cruyff was the no. 1 player in the world. I have been his fan since then.”

Hagi left Barcelona in 1996 and joined Galatasaray. He played for Galatasaray for 5 years and then, retired from professional football. His performance for Galatasaray was fantastic. The Romanian midfielder played 132 matches for Galatasaray and scored 59 goals. He was very popular among Galatasaray fans.

When asked about his tenure at Galatasaray, Hagi said, “Playing for Galatasaray was fantastic. It was the club for which I played the most number of matches and scored the most number of goals as well. I also won a lot of trophies with Galatasaray. Winning UEFA cup after defeating Arsenal in the final was one of the best moments of my career.”