There have been many signings in the history of FC Barcelona that have been hard to explain. Not every arrival seems to fit the billing of the sporting profile that the club needs, and it always ends up not working out from time to time. However, given just how massive a club Barcelona is, not everything has to be sporting-based either.
At times, the club considers other factors as well, both internal and external. Sometimes it can be to maintain relationships with other clubs or agents, and other times it can be a marketing-driven signing that has no other externality involved with it.
The case of Robert Lewandowski, for instance, seems to have been one based on the sacrifices that the Polish striker was willing to make at the time. Given just how massive a player he was, coupled with the fact that he was even willing to end on bad terms with Bayern Munich at the time, his signing was a marquee one for Barcelona.
As reported by the ever-reliable Fabrizio Romano (h/t Reshad Rahman), even Jordi Cruyff has given some insight into Lewandowski’s signing recently. Previously a member of Joan Laporta’s trusted team at Barcelona, the son of late Dutch legend Johan Cruyff stated the following about the arrival of Bayern’s ace striker at the time:
“The most important reason why Lewandowski joined was because it was his dream, he had that motivation to come. When you know he’s willing to do a lot of things to come, even financially, to fulfill his dream – you need to sign him.”
The initial arrival of Lewandowski ended up being quite fruitful for Barcelona as well. He ended up helping the team win both La Liga and the Spanish Supercup in his first season, also winning the Pichichi award for the league’s top scorer while doing so.
However, since then, the latest season has hardly been as successful for the Polish striker or for Barcelona. Furthermore, he will end up demanding an even more significant salary next season, and that is something that has caused differences within the club as well.
The signing of Lewandowski will certainly remain a big discussion within Barcelona, but the initial intentions behind it are now clear.
