Lionel Messi endorses Barcelona pursuit of Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski
Lionel Messi has reportedly gotten behind his former club Barcelona in their chase for Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.
Messi left Camp Nou in the summer due to budget cuts necessitated by the mismanagement of the past Barcelona administration, leaving Barcelona without a marketable face to help turn around their dire financial situation.
He, however, continues to be linked with a return to Camp Nou while also performing his duties as a Socio of the club, a card-carrying member.
Barcelona, meanwhile, are looking to rebuild on the pitch as well as off the pitch, and have identified Bayern Munich star Lewandowski as a player who can help the club achieve both.
Lewandowski's contract at Bayern Munich is in its final 14 months and the striker is currently not angling towards extending his stay at the Allianz Arena. It also means he could start contract negotiations with other clubs and the reports coming out of the club suggest that his entourage have begun to do so.
New revelations have surfaced that the links to Barcelona are not recent, as his representatives were revealed to have contacted Barcelona in the January transfer window.
With Messi's approval now given according to Spanish outlet SPORT, Barcelona are happy to meet the striker's demands to secure his signature ahead of next season.
Barcelona to offer Lewandowski a three-year contract
SPORT reports that Lewandowski wants a three-year contract but Bayern are unwilling to offer it to him because they intend to begin a squad succession plan in the coming season to phase out players 30 and over.
However, Barcelona are waiting to find out what happens with Bayern and Lewandowski before making their offer to the striker. It is also understood that Lewandowski's agent, Pini Zahavi, is no longer in good terms with the club due to a contract dispute between the club and another of his agents, David Alaba, who ended up leaving Bayern for Real Madrid at the beginning of the season.
This could play into Barcelona's hands as they seek to land Lewandowski, who is considered to still have three years of high level football in him while being marketable enough to rake in income for the club.
Bayern have also put out a statement on Lewandowski's situation through their CEO, Oliver Kahn. The former Bayern Munich goalkeeper stated plainly that the Polish international was going nowhere in the summer.
“We definitely have Robert with us for another season,” said Kahn. “We know what we have in him and we're relaxed about it.
“Apparently, there's a competition out there: ‘Who will tell the biggest nonsense story about Robert Lewandowski?’ Talks will continue.
“We are not crazy and we will not be discussing the transfer of a player who scores between 30 and 40 goals with us every season.”
Messi's endorsement of Barcelona's pursuit of Lewandowski comes after he praised the FIFA The Best men's player of the year at the 2021 Ballon d'Or awards ceremony.
Messi called on the awards organisers to recognise the Polish striker for his achievements the year before when the awards could not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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