Negotiations with Saudi League
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At the age of 37, Robert Lewandowski recently played second fiddle at FC Barcelona to Ferran Torres, who is twelve years his junior. The contract of the two-time world footballer ends in the summer of 2026 Conversation with the Polish journalist Bogdan Rymanowski He also commented on this: “The transfer question, my future – because I don’t know where I want to play yet – it’s ideal that I can put it off.”
From January 1st, Lewandowski could theoretically sign a preliminary contract with a new club. According to information from the Madrid sports newspaper “AS”, his advisor Pini Zahavi wants to meet with representatives of the Saudi Pro League in the coming weeks. Negotiations with Chicago Fire FC were recently reported, where he would earn significantly less than with the Saudis. If the Pole ends up in the Middle East next summer, he would move to Saudi Arabia at around the same age as Cristiano Ronaldo – shortly before his 38th birthday.
“As of today, I don’t know where I want to play yet. But I don’t have to worry about it; the time will come,” said Lewandowski. In 2022 he moved from FC Bayern to Barça for 45 million euros, which was in line with the market value at the time, and scored 103 goals in 165 games. The fact that there aren’t a few more could be because his employer asked him to stop scoring goals for a short time. If he had broken the 25-goal mark in LaLiga, an additional 2.5 million euros would have been due for the Munich team.
“I respect FC Barcelona a lot and was aware of the club’s situation. It was about a bonus and at that moment you knew that Barcelona was looking at every euro. And it wasn’t a little money, while nothing changed for me. I have no problem with it, but I couldn’t get it out of my head and I asked myself whether I should score or not,” revealed the Pole (quoted via “Barcawelt”) about the strange situation from the 2022/23 season.
Lewandowski on new contract: “I have to feel it and I haven’t yet”
Lewandowski has finished each of his previous seasons as FC Barcelona’s top scorer – he could break this trend this season, as the veteran switches between the starting eleven and the bench. Most recently he didn’t play twice in LaLiga and is still goalless in the Champions League.
“I don’t have anything specific in mind at the moment and I don’t feel any inner pressure to make a decision straight away. I have to feel it first. And I haven’t yet.” The second best goalscorer in Bundesliga history with 312 goals can therefore fully concentrate on his sporting activities. That means defending the title in LaLiga, where they recently won eight games in a row and the lead over Real Madrid grew to four points, Barça’s first title in the Champions League since 2015 and qualifying for the World Cup with Poland.