By Adegboyega Adeleye
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has made a revelation, confirming that Barcelona asked him to stop scoring goals at the end of his debut season at the club, to avoid paying a transfer bonus to Bayern Munich.
Speaking in a recent interview in Poland, the 37-year-old said he understood that the club were in a financial crisis when he joined, as the club president Joan Laporta tried his best to change the fortune.
He further explained that he had to respect the decision of the club hierarchy so the club could save money on performance-related add-ons.
Lewandowski joined Barcelona from Bayern in a deal reportedly worth €45m plus add-ons in July 2022, after eight hugely successful seasons with the German club.
He scored 23 goals in 34 appearances in the LaLiga 2022-23 season, which was his debut season as he helped the Catalans win their first league title since Lionel Messi left the club in 2021.
“I don’t really want to talk about it. I have too much respect for Barcelona and for the people who work there,” Lewandowski told Radio Zet in Poland.
“I was aware of the situation the club was in. There were many other situations where you had to sacrifice something personally for the good of the club.
“In short, it was about a bonus that would have to be paid depending on the number of goals I scored. And at that time, Barcelona were looking for every single euro.
“The bonus wasn’t a small amount. For me personally, it wouldn’t have changed anything, so I didn’t really have a problem with it.”
When asked if he agreed to the request, Lewandowski said, “Well… it stays in your head.
“It stays there, even if it’s just a small percentage, but it was enough that once I actually hesitated whether to score a goal or not.
“And at the highest level of football, that’s enough. Sometimes that 5%, even 3%, can decide whether you win or whether you score.”
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