Lewandowski covers his ears and shuts his mouths

Barcelona / San JuanRobert Lewandowski, with his goals, continues to shut the mouths of those who believe that, at 37 years old on August 21, he no longer has the strength to play for an elite team. The Warsaw striker is entering his fourth season at Barça, apparently his last (he's the one he's signed to), but the Barça club's top offices explain to ARA that "it will be his numbers and his performance" that will define the Polon's immediate future at the end of the season. In fact, the fact that he's playing his fourth season as a Barça player is explained by the fact that last season he played more than 55% of his matches, playing at least 45 minutes. This triggered the automatic renewal to which Lewandowski was entitled, and he closed out the 2024-25 season with impressive results: 42 goals in 52 matches.

This season has also started off on a high note for the club. The Pole has scored four goals in seven appearances, although he has only started three of those matches and missed the opening matchday of La Liga. The injury he sustained at the end of the summer hampered his start, but the main reason Ferran Torres is winning the starting eleven is that both coach Hansi Flick and sporting director Deco agree that the Valencian's mobility—and work rate—is more beneficial for the team's needs, while his team-building ability is also a factor in Lamine Yamal's work rate. Lewandowski, on the other hand, is still considered useful, but has lost his untouchable status in the starting lineup. In fact, he started on Sunday against Real Sociedad, while Ferran was rested before hosting PSG.

Furthermore, although the Barça No. 9 is extremely methodical when it comes to taking care of crucial aspects to extend his professional career, such as nutrition, rest, and physical endurance and explosiveness training, the passage of time is not in vain. The recurring back pain he suffers—which already kicked him in November of last season—not only causes pain, but also affects his post-match recovery and can lead to associated muscle injuries. This, coupled with his high salary (this season he earns €13 million net) based on a contract that, as Cadena SER reported, will close at €52 million net at the end of his fourth season, made Barça's management welcome a move for the Pole to a golden retirement.

Lewandowski didn't want to leave Barça.

But Lewandowski's intention was to stay at Barcelona. The striker has the complicity of Joan Laporta, who already defended him in a disagreement that ended up costing Xavi Hernández his job, who saw him as a burden on his idea of football. The president is also a good friend of his agent, Pini Zahavi. His relationship with Flick is also good, having previously worked together at Bayern. "I've worked a lot with Hansi and we don't need to talk too much, we understand each other easily and don't need many words. When he tries to explain something, I can immediately understand how he wants to convince us to play," he explained some time ago in an interview on The Athletic.

The Barça elite admit that, if he closes the season with "indisputable" numbers, it cannot be ruled out "at this stage" that he could remain at Barça for another year. However, there is one condition that is beyond dispute: he would have to accept a reduced salary. It's a similar formula to the one Real Madrid uses with its most prominent veteran players: they offer them a one-year renewal; either they accept him or they leave, as Sergio Ramos did. It's also important to keep in mind that at the end of the season, we'll be in the middle of the pre-season, and the possibility of signing a center forward like Erling Haaland, as Laporta did last season, will also come into play.

For now, Lewandowski is already thinking about how to attack PSG, although Ferran will likely start. "We'll need the qualities of both of us throughout the 90 minutes," Flick emphasized in the build-up, refusing to give any clues about his starting eleven to Luis Enrique.