Barcelona “asked Robert Lewandowski to stop scoring goals” during debut season | OneFootball

Back in 2022, Barcelona raised eyebrows with their decision to splash out €45m on a 34-year-old Robert Lewandowski. However, this decision has been fully justified in the three years since the Poland international arrived in Catalonia, with him having scored 109 goals in 158 appearances across all competitions.

As part of that deal with Bayern Munich, Barcelona agreed €5m in variables, and half of that would have been due to the Bundesliga giants had Lewandowski hit 25 La Liga goals in his first season at the club (2022-23).

Lewandowski was on 23 with two matches to go, and with the La Liga title already wrapped up, they asked him not to score any further goals, asthey wanted to avoid making this payment to Bayern, as claimed by journalist Sebastian Staszewski (via Diario AS).

“Barcelona, in a meeting in which the president, Joan Laporta, was present, asked him to stop scoring goals. And that the reason was economic, because Barcelona had to pay Bayern a bonus of €2.5m if the Polish striker reached 25 goals. With the title already secured, Barcelona would have chosen to ask him to stop scoring.”

Image via Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/Getty Images

Situation underlines Barcelona’s dire financial state

Whether Barcelona confirm whether this is true or not is another story, but it is no secret that the Catalan club has had a lot of difficulties in regards to their finances. They are still yet to return to La Liga’s 1:1 rule, which has made it very difficult to make signings, although it is hoped that the imminent return to the Spotify Camp Nou will help things move along.

Lewandowski’s wages have also contributed to Barcelona’s difficulties, given that he is the club’s highest earner. However, it is expected that these will be released at the end of the season when his contract expires, as there are currently no plans for a new deal to be offered.