Lewandowski reveals: Barcelona asked me for something stranger than fiction.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Special

Arab Gulf - Follow-ups: Barcelona's Polish striker Robert Lewandowski revealed a strange request from his club to stop scoring goals. The veteran player published a book in Poland containing his autobiography, explaining how Barcelona officials asked him not to score goals so that the club would not have to pay additional money to Bayern Munich. The book, titled "Lewandowski... The Real One," caused a stir when it was published in Poland, while the international striker himself admitted that he enjoyed reading it. One of the most controversial pieces of information in the book was the claim that Barcelona asked the player to stop scoring goals. This occurred in the last matches of the Spanish League season 2022/2023 to avoid the club paying additional bonuses to Bayern Munich according to his transfer contract from the German club, should he exceed 25 goals, given Barcelona's difficult financial situation. According to the book, Barcelona had already secured the league title under coach Xavi Hernandez, and the brilliant Polish striker was a major contributor to achieving the championship through his outstanding goal-scoring record. Lewandowski was summoned after a training session to meet with a number of club directors, including President Joan Laporta, and the author of the book mentioned that a strange offer was made to the Polish striker. According to the Spanish newspaper "Sport," club officials told Lewandowski: "We want you to stop scoring goals in the last matches," and the player looked at the club officials in astonishment at this request. With the Spanish League title race over, and him leading the top scorers list, and over a decade of professional participation, no one had ever made such a request of him. According to the book, Barcelona was required to pay an additional 2.5 million euros in bonuses to Bayern Munich if Lewandowski reached 25 goals, which the Polish striker could have reached, especially since he scored 23 goals in the league that season. Indeed, Lewandowski did not score in the last two matches, remained the league's top scorer, and played a prominent leadership role with the team on the field. The book reviewed many personal and professional aspects of Lewandowski's career, as well as the disputes that occurred at the national team level.