Robert Lewandowski has finally completed a move to Barcelona. The Polish forward made it clear he wanted to leave Bayern Munich and without every actually naming them, in order to join Barcelona.
With the situation dragging out over two months however, it’s no surprise that some of Europe’s other top teams tried to get involved in a deal as Barcelona tried to keep the price down.
Indeed, according to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, both Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain made approaches. Speaking to exclusively to Caught Offside, Romano explained why Lewandowski turned down their offers.
“Zahavi and Lewandowski gave their word to Barcelona since the end of February and have never disrespected that pact: three-year contract with the option of another year on top of that,” Romano remarked.
“Lewandowski rejected Chelsea and PSG, who wanted to try to make a proposal. Lewandowski wanted to have an experience in La Liga, he considers Barcelona an extraordinary club and has received numerous calls from Xavi: all this has made a difference, he would never have considered any other club.”
It shows some forward planning from Barcelona that the deal goes back to February. Yet it is also a tacit acknowledgement that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s signing was almost entirely to secure Champions League football.
While Barcelona will no doubt be happy to have the Gabonese forward as an alternative to Lewandowski, he is an expensive substitute.
