Despite their financial problems in the last few years, FC Barcelona have still been able to bring some of the best players in the world to their squad.
Two such players who have joined the club in recent years and who were already considered to be among the best players in their positions before they joined the Catalan club are Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan.
Lewandowski joined Barcelona from Bayern Munich during the summer transfer window last year for €45 million. The Pole won the Pichichi in his very first season at the Catalan club, and despite his age, is still performing at a very high level. Gundogan joined in the last summer window after having won the treble with Manchester City.
Lewandowski and Gundogan in a show
Before Barcelona, the two players had already been teammates at the German club Borussia Dortmund. The two have been friends since that time, and as SPORT has reported, their friendship and frankness with one another was clearly evident in a public conversation that took place between the two in a quiz-like show for Movistar Futbol.
In one of the segments of this show, Lewandowski asked Gundogan if he knew which team the Pole had planned to join before he signed for Borussia Dortmund. Gundogan was not aware of this and made a guess at Italy.
Lewandowski then corrected him and explained how he had planned to join Blackburn Rovers in England in 2010. To this, Gundogan gave a witty response, as he said: “Perhaps if you had signed with the Blackburn Rovers, you’d already have the Ballon d’Or…”
Lewandowski’s move to BVB
Lewandowski’s story of being close to joining Blackburn is well known. Before signing for Blackburn, Lewandowski was trying to travel to England for an audition with them.
However, the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano forced the Pole to cancel his trip to England, and his move fell off. He got an offer from Dortmund and joined the German club soon after, where he went on to become one of the game’s best forwards in the coming years.
