Robert Lewandowski appears to be getting his wish.
According to multiple reports on Friday, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have reached an agreement for a transfer that will send the two-time reigning FIFA Best Men’s Player of the Year from Allianz Arena to Camp Nou in a blockbuster move. For two months, Lewandowski has been adamant about his desire to leave Bayern, where he has starred since 2014, and for two months Bayern officials have stated that they expect the Polish international to honor the last year of his contract with the club.
Regardless of whether that was a negotiating ploy, it appears a $50 million transfer fee will get the job done, with Lewandowski expected to be announced by Barcelona this weekend, perhaps in time to join his new club for its U.S. preseason tour. He is reportedly set to sign a three-year deal (with an option for a fourth) after the completion of the transfer, which could tie him to Barcelona until the summer of 2026.
Lewandowski, who will turn 34 later this summer, has been a model of prolific consistency in his time in the Bundesliga, winning seven of the last nine golden boots, including the last five. He won the Bundesliga title in each of his seasons in Munich, and he scored 344 goals in 375 appearances across all competitions. He has been dynamic in the Champions League as well, with his 86 career goals in the competition (69 with Bayern, 17 with Borussia Dortmund) tied with Karim Benzema for third all-time behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
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Now he appears set to join the league where Ronaldo and Messi used to be the biggest names and where Benzema is the reigning top dog, and he joins a Barcelona side desperate to reclaim the glory that it has lost amid financial crisis. It remains to be seen how Barcelona can afford Lewandowski (both the transfer fee and his expected lofty wages) and some of its other summer signings given La Liga’s strict financial limitations. Raphinha was just signed from Leeds for $58 million, while Franck Kessié (AC Milan) and Andreas Christensen (Chelsea) arrived on free transfers and reportedly haven’t yet been able to be registered. The club has also been linked to moves for Chelsea’s César Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso. Barcelona has agreed with Manchester United to send midfielder Frenkie de Jong to Old Trafford in a deal worth up to $85 million, but the player has not signed off on it, and it’s unclear whether that will come to fruition.
Nevertheless, in a world where Lewandowski and the rest of his new teammates all properly fit under the salary parameters, Barcelona’s attack figures to be much improved. Barring any sales, the club would be at least two deep in all of its positions across the front, between Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres, Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Memphis Depay, Raphinha and Ousmane Dembélé.
As for Bayern Munich, it signed Sadio Mané from Liverpool and reportedly retained Serge Gnabry despite the German forward attracting outside interest. The club has publicly stated it does not have an interest in signing Cristiano Ronaldo, who has reportedly expressed a desire to leave Man United for a Champions League club with title ambitions, and it’s unclear whether Bayern will look for external help at forward or work with its current squad under Julian Nagelsmann in its quest to win an 11th straight Bundesliga title. The first two in its decade of dominance came without Lewandowski, and it appears any future one will as well.
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