Barcelona President Joan Laporta is unperturbed over the age bracket of Bayern Munich wantaway striker, Robert Lewandowski to Camp Nou and is pleased with the latter’s insistence to unite with Xavi Hernandez.
Laporta, in an interview recently, praised the Polish striker who he said chose to move to Catalunya despite interest with higher bids from other clubs like Paris Saint Germain and Chelsea.
The Polish striker has been on the headlines in Europe lately with reports claiming he wants to force his way out of Allianz Arena in spite of the plea from Bavarians who have already signed Senegalese Sadio Mane to complement their attack.
During the interview with Hristo Stoichkov, Laporta conceded that players like Lewandowski who are ready to give their all to come to Camp Nou, are what the clubs need.
More so, Barcelona’s President disclosed that the Pole has proven to be a reliable goalscorer over time whilst winning the ‘Golden Boot’ in the German Bundesliga. He added that Lewandowski agreed to take a pay cut to fit into the wage bill of the club adding that about €45m plus add-ons was reached with the Bavarian.
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“We made a first offer and it ended at 45, plus add-ons. It’s within our possibilities, the player has also adjusted his salary to be within our possibilities and the Catalans are now very happy,” Laporta told Stoichkov.
“We have competed with teams like PSG, Chelsea and the player wanted to come to Barça.
“This is what I like. As Johan said, I want players who want to come to Barça, and we have to thank him because he has been earning less and enduring great pressure from Bayern, for whom I have great respect,” he added.
Lewandowski will be 34 next month but Laporta believes for his age the player looks well kept and healthy.
Jocularly, he said the striker’s wife is a nutritionist and must have played a significant role in keeping the player fit.
He continued: “He is a man who takes great care of himself, his wife is a nutritionist when you have a woman who controls you.
“Barça needs, like any great team, a goalscoring striker. He is a machine gunner for scoring goals. This player has been awarded the Golden Shoe several times, if you look at his record he guarantees a goal and every great team needs a striker who guarantees you goals,” Barca’s president added.
Laporta acknowledged Lewandowski goalscoring prowess when he stated that Johan Cruyff will like the striker who he claims is different from every other striker that have joined the Catalans.
