Agent reveals Villas-Boas tried to lure Lewandowski to FC Porto | OneFootball

Pini Zahavi, Robert Lewandowski’s agent, said in an interview with WP SportoweFakty that André Villas-Boas tried to persuade the Polish striker to play for FC Porto at a time when he was a free agent after his contract with Barcelona ended.

Asked about the alternatives the centre-forward had in Europe, the Israeli agent was clear in stating that none of them convinced the player. “In Spain, he was only interested in Barcelona, Germany was not an option, and neither was France, because it never appealed to him. We also did not consider England,” he explained, before going on to address the possibility of joining the Dragons.

“Yes, it happened, I also spoke to him [Villas-Boas]. I know Robert well and I knew what he was looking for. He wanted to enjoy himself with the ball, feel like a leader, love and be loved. And FC Porto could guarantee him that, so it seemed like an interesting option,” he explained, adding that the blue-and-white club “really wanted him” and “tried to convince him until the very last moment,” with the Porto president even contacting the 37-year-old forward directly. Even so, Lewandowski refused to move to Portugal and ended up signing for Chicago Fire of MLS.

Zahavi also revealed that, in January, the Polish international turned down a huge offer from Saudi Arabia, worth 100 million euros per season, because he wanted to remain in Catalonia.

At 83, the Israeli is one of the most important agents in world football and has been involved in some of the most significant transfers in history, including Neymar’s move to PSG and Roman Abramovich’s purchase of Chelsea. More recently, he was also responsible for Lewandowski’s transfer to Barcelona and for bringing Hansi Flick in as head coach of the Catalan club.

The move to the United States came after strong insistence from the North American club. “The Fire bosses fought for him more than anyone else,” Zahavi said, highlighting the determination and creativity shown by the Chicago side to complete the signing. “They offered him the second-biggest contract in MLS, right behind Leo Messi. Chicago really wanted Robert,” he added.

According to the agent, the departure from the blaugrana was due to football-related reasons. Although Joan Laporta wanted to extend the striker’s stay for another season, the final decision on the makeup of the squad belonged to sporting director Deco and coach Hansi Flick. “They could not guarantee Robert a place in the starting eleven, which for him was even more important than money,” the agent explained. Given the new direction mapped out for the club’s future, other possibilities then began to be considered.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.