And finally the big rumour came to an end. For some time now, Real Madrid had been rumoured to be after Robert Lewandovski. The Polish player was wanted by the secretariat and the coaching staff in order to join Real Madrid. However, something else was brewing beyond Real Madrid and the former Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona player was in the mix.
The transfer market has seen a good deal of star movement this summer. Alongside the Lewandowski rumours was Norwegian starlet Halaand, who was tipped to join Pep Guardiola’s England side. Before the news broke, thousands of fans were betting on the Norwegian’s fate on some of the best online betting sites. Although odds on other sports such as horse racing, cricket or basketball were offered, they wanted to know what the chances were of him ending up in the world’s most watched league. Now, with Halaand as the star of the Manchester side, punters can bet on hundreds of markets for every match.
Therefore, after learning of Halaand’s fate, all the markets (sports media and fans) set their sights on what Robert’s next destination would be. FC Barcelona’s objective was to sign a centre-forward who would be a guarantee. After the departure of Luis Suarez to Atletico Madrid and the player Leo Messi to PSG, the Catalan team had not found a striker who could match the Uruguayan player’s numbers. There was a lot of talk about Halaand, but his contract was impossible, so the possible signing of Lewandowski came up in the air.
Current president Joan Laporta knew there was an option for the Polish striker to leave the Bavarian club. Laporta is a good acquaintance of Robert Lewandowski’s agent and knew that the striker had one year left on his contract at Bayern. President and agent started to talk about salary, benefits, etc. But, Pini Zahavi, already let Barcelona know that he could not guarantee anything, as other teams such as PSG and Chelsea also wanted the services of his client. Despite it not being the desired destination for the player, he decided to take a step forward and choose Barcelona as his destination.
Now, after deciding on his next team, the strategy had to be worked out. Bayern wanted to renew his contract but the striker already knew what he wanted. The player had to postpone the signing of his possible new contract, until after announcing that his time at Bayern was over. These statements did not sit well with the German team’s directors.
After hearing these statements, Xavi set to work to finalise the signing of the player by talking to him in person. The strategy came to fruition and he agreed on 45 million euros + 5 million euros in variables. In total, the Polish player arrived in Barcelona for 50 million euros.
Last Friday Joan Laporta presented at the Nou Camp the player he had been promising his fans for a long time. A total of 57,300 fans attended the presentation of the player who is set to make history for his age.
For the meantime, he has not disappointed anyone, as in the trophy that is disputed in the presentation of the team, he already left good sensations. In only 18 minutes he scored a goal and made an assist. In the first three minutes he made his debut with a goal that took everyone’s breath away. He dribbled past the goalkeeper, he had no angle to shoot and scored. But that was not the end of the Pole’s magical night. The player has started to have a very good connection with the young player Pedri. Thus, in the 18th minute of the match, the player would make a pass to the hole that would leave the Canary Islander alone in front of the goalkeeper to score the second of the night. In the second half, Robert Lewandowski was replaced by Xavi Hernandez, but he left a very good feeling for the championship.
This weekend sees the start of the 22/23 Spanish league season. It seems that after a year to forget at Can Barça, the team that Laporta has put together with Lewandowski at the head will be back to the team it was a few years ago. But who will be the best 9 of the season, Benzema or Lewandoswki? What is clear is that Robert Lewandowski has arrived to make history at FC Barcelona.
