Barcelona: Lewandowski keen to leave Bayern for Camp Nou

According to reports in Catalonia, Robert Lewandowski has indicated that he would be open to joining Barcelona this summer. The Bayern Munich striker has been suggesting he would be open to a change of scenery for some time, alerting the interest of Real Madrid, Chelsea and other European clubs. The 33-year-old arrived at the Allianz Arena from Dortmund in 2014 and has gone on to smash numerous records with the Bavarians, banging in 339 goals in 367 games.

However, after 12 seasons in the Bundesliga, Lewandowski has intimated he would enjoy the opportunity to play in a different league and Catalan daily Sport reports that the Poland captain has let it be known that he would be happy to join Xavi’s Camp Nou revolution.

Lewandowski is out of contract in 2023 and while the Bavarian giants are confident of persuading the prolific Pole to see out his career at the Allianz Arena, there are increasing signs that the striker has decided to try his luck elsewhere. Lewandowski is said to be a little disillusioned with the Bayern hierarchy and feels that his time at the club has reached a natural end point.

Although he is 33 Lewandowski, whose parents were professional athletes and whose wife is a karateka and personal trainer, is famously fastidious over his fitness and feels he can easily follow Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s lead and play beyond his 40^th birthday.

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As such, a cut-price deal for a striker who has scored over 40 goals in each of the past seven seasons this summer will naturally interest many clubs across Europe, even if the Pole insists on a three- to four-year contract, as it has been suggested Barça will be happy to offer. Lewandowski is valued at around €65 million and Bayern will certainly prefer that to the prospect of losing him for nothing in 2023, but given the number of clubs that would likely enter the bidding, the Bavarians could still expect to make a tidy profit on the €50m they send Dortmund’s way in 2014.

Barcelona’s lack of an out-and-out striker is something the club has been looking to address with mostly cut-price and loan deals, by Sergio Agüero’s early retirement and Ansu Fati’s ongoing injury issues will lead the Camp Nou board to alter their priorities in the summer market if Lewandowski becomes available. Erling Haaland is in all likelihood out of Barça’s price range and they will face competition from Madrid, Manchester City and PSG for the Norwegian – a financial battle Joan Laporta has little chance of winning.

Lewandowski would be within Barça’s economic reach and Xavi would have little hesitation in shipping out Memphis Depay and Luuk de Jong to make room for the record-breaking Poland international.