Berlin, July 18 (STATS Perform/dpa/GNA) – Robert Lewandowski declared it was time for Barcelona to “get back on track”, after securing his long-awaited move to Camp Nou, as the Poland international revealed he had always dreamed of playing in LaLiga.
Barcelona confirmed on Saturday they had reached an agreement in principle, to sign Lewandowski from Bayern Munich, before completing a deal reportedly worth € 50 million ($50 million) for the 33-year-old on Sunday.
Lewandowski scored 50 goals across all competitions as Bayern won a 10th consecutive Bundesliga title last term, but made his desire to join the Catalan giants clear at the end of the season.
The 33-year-old leaves Bayern having scored 312 Bundesliga goals, a tally only bettered by legendary striker Gerd Muller (365), and will provide a new focal point for a Barcelona team which scored 12 goals fewer than LaLiga champions Real Madrid last season.
Having joined his new Blaugrana teammates in Florida ahead of a friendly against Inter Miami, Lewandowski has targeted restoring Barcelona to the top of the Spanish game, with the league title having evaded the club since 2018-19.
“Finally I’m here, I’m very happy,” Lewandowski told the club’s media channels. “The last few days were very long days but in the end, the deal is done, so I can focus on a new chapter in my life, a new challenge.
“I am always the guy who wants to win, not only the games but the titles, so I hope from the beginning of the season we’re going to start by winning, and go to [win] titles at the end of the season.”
He continued, “I always wanted to play in LaLiga, I wanted to play for the big clubs. Now it’s my next step, this opportunity that I had. Also for my private life, it’s a new challenge, a new life.”
Lewandowski said it was time to get Barcelona back on track, “and that’s why I’m here, to help Barcelona be on top and win as many titles as possible.”
He said “for me, the goals are always high. We have so many good players with amazing quality, and we know that with this team we can achieve a lot this season, I’m sure it’s going to be like that.”
Lewandowski joins the likes of Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen and Raphinha in signing for Barcelona in this transfer window as Xavi looks to reshape his squad after finishing a distant second to Madrid in LaLiga last season.
The striker believes Xavi is the ideal man to revive Barca, after a difficult few seasons, as he revealed he had been in contact with the former midfielder throughout his transfer saga.
“I was speaking with Xavi, from the beginning I knew that his idea was going in a good way, with this idea it was easy for me to decide to come to Barcelona,” he added.
“I know I’m the guy who wants to play, to win, and I think with Xavi it’s very possible. He knows exactly how to coach Barcelona because he was an amazing player, now he’s also a very good coach with an amazing future and I want to be part of this as well,” said Lewandowski.
GNA