Barcelona superstar Robert Lewandowski has opened up about the staggering depth of the club’s financial crisis during his debut season, revealing that the hierarchy subtly encouraged him to limit his scoring output to save the club from paying performance-related bonuses.
The Polish international shared these details during a candid interview with Radio Zet, confirming long-standing rumors about the fiscal pressures surrounding his 2022–23 campaign at the Camp Nou.
The Financial Context: The ‘Bayern Clause’
When Lewandowski joined Barcelona from Bayern Munich in July 2022 for a €45 million fee, the deal included several “add-on” clauses. These stipulated that Barcelona would owe Bayern significant additional payments once Lewandowski reached specific goal-scoring milestones.
At the time, President Joan Laporta was navigating a massive restructuring of the club’s debt, and every million euros was critical to the team’s ability to register new players and comply with La Liga’s strict salary caps.
Sacrifice for the Collective
Lewandowski admitted that as the 2022–23 season reached its final stages, the club approached him with the highly unusual request to avoid triggering those expensive milestones.
“I was aware of the situation the club was in,” Lewandowski confessed. “There were many situations where you had to sacrifice something personally for the good of the collective.”
The striker explained that while he understood the club’s desperate need to “save every euro,” the request created a unique psychological hurdle. For a player whose career is defined by clinical finishing, knowing that a goal could financially strain his employer led to an internal conflict during matches.
Pichichi and a Title Despite the Pressure
Despite the behind-the-scenes directives to slow down, Lewandowski’s professionalism and instinct ultimately prevailed. He finished his first season in Spain with:
- 23 Goals in 34 La Liga appearances.
- The Pichichi Trophy as the league’s top scorer.
- The La Liga Title, Barcelona’s first since the departure of Lionel Messi.
Lewandowski’s revelation adds a new layer to the narrative of Barcelona’s recent history, illustrating the “invisible” sacrifices made by players to keep the club afloat during its most turbulent economic era.
Source: Radio Zet
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