Robert Lewandowski’s long-awaited transfer from German champions Bayern Munich to Barcelona has been finalized.
The 33-year-old, who is regarded as one of the best attackers in the league, had been pressing for a move away from Bayern all summer after getting impatient with the slow progress of contract talks and publicly stating that he preferred Barcelona.
In fact, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain were among the teams to express interest in Lewandowski, but both groups were aware that they would only be given a chance to sign him if negotiations with Barcelona failed.
That appeared to be an option at times as the La Liga team struggled to raise the funds necessary to persuade Bayern to sell, but in the end, an agreement between the two parties was struck at the price of €45 million plus €5 million add-ons.
On Saturday, Lewandowski bid his teammates at Bayern Munich farewell. He has now signed a four-year deal with Camp Nou.
Lewandowski joins Raphinha, Andreas Christensen, and Franck Kessie as the fourth player to sign with Barcelona this summer.
In addition, Xavi’s team has re-signed winger Ousmane Dembele to a new deal and is still searching for other reinforcements in the transfer market.