Lewandowski: 'Eight years at Bayern is very special'
"The last eight years have been special and I can't forget it. I had a good time in Munich. I just said goodbye to the team today. I'm not worried about getting hurt in training. I want to stay fit. Strength and practice one last time with my teammates," Lewandowski told Sky Sports News.
On July 16th, Lewandowski bid farewell to coach Nagel Smann and his teammates at Bayern training ground, and then left. The Polish striker has revealed he has not had much time to prepare and will return to meet Bayern staff after training with Barca in the US.
Lewandowski will travel to Miami for a medical and join Barca during the pre-season tour, according to the Sport Mail. If the final process of the $50 million deal goes through, Lewandowski will sign a three-year contract with the option of extending it for another 12 months. The deal is expected to be announced today (July 17).
According to the schedule, Barcelona will play Inter Miami in Florida on July 20, Real Madrid in Nevada on July 24, Juventus in Texas on July 27 and New York RB in New Jersey on July 31. However, Lewandowski's ability to play remained open when he was not on Barca's list of entries announced on July 16.
Once the deal is completed, Lewandowski will become Barcelona's fourth rookie this summer, second only to $72 million midfielder Rafinha from Leeds United, as well as free duo Frank Casey and Andreas Christensen. Ousmane Dembele can also count as another free agent, as he only signed a new deal with Barcelona after his old one expired at the end of June. Barcelona will focus on a deal for Sevilla midfielder Jules Kounde after completing Lewandowski's recruitment, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
The Nou Camp boss had to sell players and reduce the salary fund to register these rookies. Coach Harvey has removed goalkeeper Neto, defenders Samuel Umtiti, Oscar Mingeza, midfielder Ricky Puig and striker Martin Braithwaite from the US Tour list and wants to liquidate the players "as soon as possible". Barcelona also reached an agreement to sell Frankie de Jong to Manchester United for a total fee of $85 million, but the Dutch midfielder refused to leave.
During his eight years with Bayern, Lewandowski scored 344 goals in 375 games. He and the Bavarian giants won eight Bundesligas, three National Cups, five German Super Cups, one Champions League, one European Super Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. At club level, Lewandowski holds a record of 540 goals in 745 games. With Poland, he scored 76 goals in 132 matches.
Despite insisting they would not sell Lewandowski at the start of the summer, Bayern agreed to let him leave for more money to sign Matthijs de Ligt. On July 16, Bayern general manager Oliver Kahn confirmed that he had opened talks with Juventus and revealed de Ligt wanted to join Bayern. According to Football Italy, Bayern submitted their first offer of $60 million with an additional fee, far short of the $90 million juventus asked for.
