Roberto Martinez will take Swansea into the Championship with the managerial backing of one of the game's greatest figures - Johan Cruyff.

Swansea's Spanish boss has been promised a hotline to the legendary Dutch master if he ever has a query for the man who brought Barcelona their first European Cup.

But Jordi, the former Manchester United star son of Cruyff, firmly believes his friend Martinez will never have to make a call for help after hailing his natural talent for tactics.

The ex-Dutch international ran the rule over Swansea when they faced Espanyol and Palamos as part of their four-game tour of Catalonia.

And, having seen his pal produce the goods from the dug-out at close hand, Jordi is convinced Martinez doesn't need any advice to continue his impressive start to life as a manager.

"The door is always open for Roberto to speak to my father," said the 34-year-old Jordi.

"Whenever he wants to speak to my dad about something, or any advice I could give him, we are always available.

"And Roberto knows that - but he also knows there are probably not a lot of tips I could give him any more.

"He has done brilliantly and has had a great season last year and now they find themselves in a new division.

"He's won more games than he's lost, but, of course, he's now going into a new league and we will all have to see how things go.

"You are always learning in football, but, in my opinion, he's capable of handling any pressure and his tactical approach is spot on.

"He can see things happening out on the pitch very quickly and has the ability to make a tactical move to change the game. He's taking another step this season but I think he will be fine."

Jordi has also thrown his support behind the talent in the Swans squad, coming in a week where Wales boss John Toshack - Cruyff's old La Liga adversary when Tosh was in charge at Real Madrid - said the lack of experience left question marks over the side's Championship capability.

And the Dutch Catalan played down the mixed results of Swansea's tour to the Costa Brava, which ended with a incident-packed 3-3 draw with Barcelona's young reserve side on Monday.

"I watched the games against Espanyol and Palamos and you have to say it was difficult for Swansea," said Jordi, a former Premier League winner at United.

"But this was quite different than games in Britain because they were playing against teams with the same system and style.

"The difference is Espanyol have been playing it for 10 years and Swansea 18 months.

"It is the same through Spanish football, but these games will be good for Swansea because of the questions that have been asked with the way these teams play.

"And, even though I know Roberto has a very young team, you can see they are also very hungry. I think they will be all right."

Jordi admits to becoming a Swansea fan since Martinez returned to the club as manager in March 2007, keeping an eye on their progress from afar as the ex-Euro 96 star continues his career with Ukrainian side Metalurg Donetsk.

And their recent reunion at the Estadi Municipal de Palamos comes after the pair first struck up a friendship as juniors in the La Liga youth set-up.

"I sort of grew up with Roberto," said Jordi, whose career saw him win nine caps for the Netherlands while playing for Barca, United, Celta Vigo, Espanyol and Alaves.

"When we were both 14, I was in the Barca youth side and he was with Real Zaragoza and we got to know each other.

"Then, when I moved to Manchester, Roberto was at Wigan and we spoke pretty much every day - he was a real friend for me.

"We've stayed in touch since and quite often we'll speak on the phone after a game."

So, given his close relationship, the success made by the Spaniard on these shores is of no surprise to Jordi, who has hailed his impact in Britain since arriving 13 years ago.

And, furthermore, he claims Martinez's transformation from midfielder to manager was always going to happen for a man he describes as "football crazy."

"He's adapted himself do well in Britain, better than any of the rest of us who came over from abroad - and certainly better than me," Jordi admitted.

"So the fact he's taken the next step in that doesn't surprise me.

"He was always football crazy and the perfect professional - he was always about team spirit where I was the type of player that would be frustrated if I wasn't playing.

"I never doubted he could turn his hand to management and I don't think he did either.

"When he had the chance to take over at Swansea he still had a couple of years left at Chester and I think that was the only sort of decision he faced at that time.

"I knew how much he loved playing and I knew he thought he would have to give up playing if he wanted to go into management properly.

"So when he phoned and asked me what he should do, knowing how big his feelings were for Swansea,

"I just told him this was his destiny. It was his moment.

"And I think he already knew that and the possibilities he saw at Swansea were a bigger pull than any desire to keep playing."

Martinez has clearly seized his chance of making an impact as a boss since replacing Kenny Jackett, and Jordi is aware of the growing interest in his friend following his Swans success.

But, even with his former club tentatively linked with Martinez after the opening of a No 2's role, Jordi insisted the young boss' building work at the Liberty means there will be a Spanish accent at the club for some while yet.

"Success will always attract interest, but I really think it doesn't matter," added Jordi.

"He has asked a lot of players to be loyal to the club by coming over from Spain so he wouldn't walk away from a long commitment just like that.

"I really don't think it would matter who was interested - I know Roberto is trying to achieve something with Swansea."