Robert Lewandowski has been important for Barcelona this season, but the club is aware of his age and that his contract expires next season, and they don’t want to wait much longer to start making moves. While it is true that the issue has been postponed until next season, with Ferran Torres showing great form as a replacement for the Polish striker, work continues behind the scenes, where there is a strong candidate on the agenda.
Lewandowski ended the season with a century
Robert Lewandowski ended the season on a high note with two goals at San Mamés. Two goals that came at just the right time to make him a century scorer and silence all the alarm bells about his goal drought.
Although he did suffer an injury, the striker had not found the net since April 9, allowing Kylian Mbappé to take the Pichichi award after a prolific year in front of goal.
Since that April 9, when he scored twice against Borussia to reach 99 goals, he had not scored, leaving his 100th goal as a Barça player pending until the last moment.
With his brace at San Mamés, the Polish player sealed his 100th goal for Barça in a season in which he has returned to his best scoring form since his time at Bayern. The striker “justified” his lack of goals by saying that “after the injury, I needed some time to come back. As a team, we have won titles and that’s what matters to me,” he explained.
He also needed time at the end of the season, as he decided not to join up with his national team, saying he needed to stop and rest, although in the last few hours it has been revealed that the Polish player has made a bold move and will not be joining the national team, as he announced on social media: “Considering the circumstances and the loss of confidence in the Polish national team coach, I have decided to give up playing for the national team until he is no longer the coach. I hope to be able to play for the best fans in the world.”
Barça and the search for an heir
Although FC Barcelona is confident that the player still has one or two years at the top level ahead of him, the truth is that rumors about the search for his heir have been rife in recent months. While it is true that during Lewandowski’s injury, the club saw that Ferran Torres was the perfect replacement, thus postponing the urgent need to go to the market, as confirmed by sporting director Deco.
Deco played down the urgency of the matter, but made his preferences clear with names and surnames. “We mustn’t get obsessed with finding a ‘number 9’. We have players who are capable of playing there if Lewandowski isn’t available, such as Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo and even Fermín. We like Luis Díaz, we like Rashford and other players, but talking about players who are under contract with other teams is complicated, out of respect.” Those players are liked for the wing and could arrive this summer, but the pure number 9 will wait until next season and there is a clear name.
Barcelona wants Julián Álvarez
Sique Rodríguez reported on Carrusel de la Cadena SER that Laporta is already openly talking about Julián Álvarez for Barça. The idea is to sign him next year when Lewandowski leaves the club at the end of his contract. The Argentine player’s performance in both LaLiga and European competition has caught the attention of several European clubs. The striker is now focused on the Club World Cup with Atlético, which he will join after being on international duty with Argentina.