Barcelona ‘CANNOT sign Robert Lewandowski’, insists LaLiga chief because club must sell stars to generate funds first ‘to avoid economic problems’… but now their lucrative asset Frenkie de Jong wants to stay!
- Robert Lewandowski has been widely linked with a move to Barcelona in summer
- The 33-year-old declared his career at Bayern Munich was ‘over’ earlier this week
- But LaLiga president Javier Tebas claimed Barca weren’t in a position to sign him
- Tebas insisted that the club know they must sell to generate funds for signings
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has insisted that Barcelona are currently unable to sign Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich.
Lewandowski put Europe’s top sides on high alert this week when he publicly declared his career at Bayern was ‘over’.
The 33-year-old has one year left on his deal at the Bundesliga side and has been widely linked with a move to the Nou Camp, with the striker said to be in contact with Blaugrana boss Xavi.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas (left) insisted Barcelona cannot sign Robert Lewandowski (right)
However, Tebas has rained on Barcelona’s parade as he insisted the Catalan giants are in no financial position to be able to secure the services of the Poland international.
Speaking to Marca, the LaLiga chief said: ‘They (Barcelona) know what they have to do.
‘They know perfectly well our economic control rules and their financial situation. The rules are there to avoid major economic problems. I don’t know if they will sell De Jong, Pedri or Pepito Perez.
The striker has one year left on his deal and has been widely linked with a move to Barcelona
‘They know what they have to do – sell assets and earn more, this is what they have to do.
‘Barca has had many accumulated losses in the last tax years, some which could have been avoided and they have to stock the pantry.
‘Just as Madrid have stocked up, Barcelona have emptied it. Today they cannot sign him (Lewandowski).’
Barcelona had been hoping to embark on a summer rebuild under the promising tutelage of club legend Xavi.
The Catalan side had been hoping for a summer rebuild with club legend Xavi at the helm
However, while they have looked to move early in the transfer market by snapping-up good value players where possible, their transfer plans have already hit a bump.
Owing to their present financial situation, the club must sell if they are to make any more signings or even register new players.
Barcelona were hoping to shift Frenkie de Jong amid interest from Manchester United but the Dutchman has dealt them a blow as he insisted he would rather stay and fight for his place at the Nou Camp, according to ESPN.
The Catalan side have already been unable to register two players who are set to officially join on free transfers – Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen – and face a similar problem if they are to make a move for Lewandowski.
Frenkie de Jong but he insisted he would rather stay at the Nou Camp and fight for his place
Lewandowski has not been happy at Bayern for some time, with it recently being claimed that he told friends that he started to consider leaving when the club’s sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic, expressed interest in signing Erling Haaland last August.
Now, he has made it clear he has no intention of playing for the German side ever again.
‘My era at Bayern is over,’ Lewandowski told reporters while on international duty with Poland.
‘I don’t see any possibility to continue playing for this club anymore.
‘Bayern’s a serious club and I believe they won’t keep me, I don’t want to play there anymore. A transfer is the best solution. I hope they don’t stop me.’
However, Barcelona face competition for the prolific striker as his former agent, Maik Barthel, recently claimed that the Pole has always dreamed of playing for Real Madrid, who recently missed out on securing the services of Kylian Mbappe.
Meanwhile, there is also interest from England, with Chelsea eyeing a move for Lewandowski with Romelu Lukaku facing an uncertain future.
