Johan Cruyff 'diagnosed with lung cancer' as Holland and Barcelona legend awaits results of further tests

Johan Cruyff is suffering from lung cancer, according to reports in Spanish media.

The Barcelona, Ajax and Holland legend, regarded as one of the greatest footballers in history and star man of the Dutch team that introduced 'Total Football' to the world, was diagnosed with the disease last Tuesday in the Catalan capital.

Cruyff, 68, is now undergoing further tests to understand the extent of the disease, according to El Mundo. 

Johan Cruyff, pictured here by Sportsmail's Graham Chadwick last year, is suffering from lung cancer

Cruyff was the star of the Holland team of the 1970s which invented the style of 'Total Football'

A long-term smoker of around 20 cigarettes a day, Cruyff underwent open heart surgery in 1991 while managing Barcelona. He quit smoking following the double bypass operation, and returned to his post for a further five years.

Cruyff led Barcelona to their first European Cup triumph the following year, when Ronald Koeman's free-kick beat Sampdoria at Wembley. 

Despite winning just 48 caps for his country, Cruyff is one of the most influential footballers ever to live. He developed close control and levels of skill years ahead of his time, pioneering the 'Cruyff turn' - a flick through his own legs while turning into a completely different direction - a move much-imitated and still used to bamboozle defenders to this day.

At Ajax, he won six Dutch league titles and three European Cups between 1966 and 1972 as Ajax dominated European football under visionary manager Rinus Michels, who coined the philosophy of 'Total Football' - where players are highly-skilled and intelligent enough to interchange positions all over the pitch.

Cruyff joined Barcelona for a world-record fee of $2million in 1973, helping the Catalan giants win their first Spanish league title in 14 years and picking up his third European Player of the year award in the process.

But it was with Holland at the 1974 World Cup that Cruyff truly captuerd the world's imagination. Playing spectacular, free-flowing football alongside many of his old Ajax team-mates such as Arie Haan and Johan Neeskens, and again under the guidance of Michels, Cruyff inspired the Dutch to the brink of their first World Cup win.

Holland fell at the final hurdle against West Germany, but Cruyff's legend was sealed and he was named the player of the tournament.

Cruyff returned to Ajax to win two more Dutch league titles in the 1980s before embarking on his successful managerial career with Barcelona, and ensuring the Total Football philosophy he grew up with evolved into the tiki-taka style that saw Barca and Spain rule the world.

After coming through the fabled youth system at Ajax, Cruyff is also credited with laying the platform for Barcelona's all-conquering current team, which has won four Champions Leagues in the last 10 years.

The idea to establish La Masia, Barca's fabled youth academy, was proposed by Cruyff, who wanted to establish a model in Spain of the Ajax academy he came through. La Masia has produced the spine of Barca's great sides, with Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas all graduates.

Cruyff, unsurprisingly, remains the most respected and loved of all Barcelona figureheads.