Barcelona have made no secret of their desire to sign Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker is willing to leave Bayern Munich this summer, and the Spanish side have emerged as front runners to secure his services.
Bayern president, Uli Hoeness, has hit out at the Catalans. Lewandowski is under contract at the German champions until 2023, but according to German publication BILD, Barcelona have submitted a written offer of 32 million euros for him.
In an interview with RTL and ntv, Hoeness fumed: “They want Lewandowski supposedly. Six months ago, they were still in debt with 1.3 billion euros. They have to be artists; in Germany, you would have been insolvent for a long time.”
Barcelona’s financial issues
Last year, Barcelona encountered a lot of financial issues. In December 2021, the club’s annual report revealed that they had a debt of €1.35 billion, and had lost €481 million in the 2020/21 season.
Despite their worries, Barcelona have continued to spend. Ferran Torres was signed from Man City in a deal totalling more than 50 million euros. But they have had to sell to be able to buy.
Philippe Coutinho was loaned to Aston Villa, and Lionel Messi’s wages were recouped after the Argentinian moved to Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
In January, Adama Traore and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined the club, but Xavi feels that he still needs a striker. And for Barcelona, that’s where Robert Lewandowski comes in.
Will Robert Lewandowski move to Barcelona?
33-year-old Lewandowski is one of the best goal scorers in the world. His advisor, Pini Zahavi, confirmed his client’s intention to seek pastures new this summer.
He said to BILD: “FC Bayern is history for Robert Lewandowski.”
Despite the Polish striker’s desire to move on, Hoeness maintains that he will not sanction a move until they have found a new striker.
He said: “I don’t currently know anyone at Bayern Munich who would release Robert from his contract prematurely. Obviously, we haven’t found a replacement so far, so our opinion is clear!”
And the Bayern president hopes that the Bundesliga’s top scorer changes his mind.
“If he stays, plays well and continues to feel super comfortable in Germany with his family, maybe he will come in January and say: ‘Wow, I like it. It’s so good here. Maybe I’ll stay another two or three years’.
“The decision that it is highly unlikely that he will let him go does not mean that he will not play for us in the 2023/24 season. He and we then have a year to reassess the situation.”
Featured Image Credit: Getty
