FC BARCELONA
FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski tells Bild “I wanted to go to Manchester United”
The FC Barcelona striker spoke to Bild ahead of the Copa del Rey semi-final clash against Real Madrid.
FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski recognised this Wednesday, ahead of the Clásico Copa del Rey semi-final second leg, that if he had not left Bayern Munich this summer, he would have stayed “out of obligation” rather than “joy”, while at the same time confessing the best period of his time in Germany came under Hansi Flick. “I had my best period at Bayern while Flick was at Munich. We won everything, and I was able to achieve my dream of winning the Champions League. It was an incredible time.”
The 34-year-old signed for Barça in the summer of 2022 after 8 years at Bayern and said to Bild that Nagelsmann was not the reason that made him leave. He also revealed that if he had remained at the club, he would have lost the “joy” of being a footballer. “Of course I would have continued going to work, but more out of obligation and not joy. I didn’t want that felling, it wouldn’t have been good for neither myself nor the club.”
‘Tuchel can give Bayern a lot of success’
With regards to Thomas Tuchel and the surprise of Nagelsmann’s dismissal, Lewandowski defended the arrival of the “super-coach”, one with “his own style”. “Tuchel can give Bayern a lot of success, both this season and in the future. As long as the team develops, there will be no room for criticism”, he explained.
He also gave his take on the exit of Hansi Flick from Bayern. “Everything went amazingly well with him, we performed well and won trophies, and he left in the end. From my point of view, it was a little strange, difficult to understand. But that’s business, I just form part of it all.” The striker wanted to take the opportunity to eulogise about Jürgen Klopp, his coach while at Borussia Dortmund and his “adoptive father” ever since he had a conversation with the manager in September 2011, after getting knocked out of the Champions League against Marseille.
Did Robert Lewandowski almost go to Manchester United?
“I felt as though he was a paternal figure in front of me”, he said, before confessing that Klopp was actually the manager who denied Lewandowski the chance to move to Manchester United at just 22-years-old: “I spoke to Aki (Hans-Joachim) Watzke and Jürgen Klopp on the training pitch. I wanted to go to Manchester United. But they told me: ‘No way, Robert. We need you. You have to stay.’” What could have been.
