It might have been a ramshackle presentation cobbled together on tour, with relatively few media there, but Barcelona President Joan Laporta had a triumphant air about him as he presented Robert Lewandowski.
The Polish striker is arguably Barcelona’s biggest signing since Luis Suarez in 2014 and as such, is looking to fire Barcelona back to the summit of the game. Lewandowski made a point of speaking about his hunger to win.
Speaking in a mixture of Catalan, Spanish and English, Laporta thanked Lewandowski, as reported by Sport.
“We are very happy and grateful to Robert. This man has made an extraordinary effort, we are proud that you wanted to come here and play for us.”
Laporta then moved onto all of the people responsible, praising the global impact that Lewandowski’s arrival may have.
“We are trying to make a team that is more and more competitive, we are progressing well. I want to thank the whole department of football, led by Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff and the Vice-President of Sport, Rafa Yuste, for this signing, which has had a global impact.”
“We are recovering the specific weight that Barcelona had and positioning Barcelona in the world again. We will continue to build a competitive team as much as our means will allow.”
While Lewandowski’s arrival is clearly a marquee signing, he does come at the end of his career. However Laporta seemed to have it clear in his mind that Lewandowski was a statement off the pitch and on it, a sign that Barcelona, as Gerard Pique put it, are back.
