Robert Lewandowski is too old for Barcelona – Ronald Koeman
FT Desk
- 28 Jun 2022 09:45 BST
- 3 min read
Former Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has advised his old club against signing Robert Lewandowski, saying the 33-year-old is too old and expensive.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich are in negotiations to complete a deal for the Poland striker.
Barcelona have made Lewandowski their number one target for the summer transfer window and they have been in talks to sign the former Borussia Dortmund star since March.
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Lewandowski, whose contract at Bayern expires in 2023, is keen to make the move to Camp Nou as he would like one final challenge at a bit club before the end of his career.
Barcelona are reported to already have had two bids of €32 million and €40m rejected by Bayern.
Barcelona are set to table a new and improved €50 million offer but, according to Sky Germany, Bayern are holding out for €60m.
Koeman believes that the outlay is not worth it.
What did Koeman say?
“Lewandowski is a great player, a goalscorer,” Koeman told Catalan TV.
“He has scored 25 to 30 goals at Bayern the last several years, but he’s up there in age.
“I have my doubts about playing €50-60 million for a player, on top of the salary which won’t be small.
“Maybe he has two years left. There are a lot of doubts about whether one should sign him or not.”
Koeman was sacked as Barcelona coach last October, after just over a year in charge.
After being kept on for the 2021/22 campaign, Koeman oversaw a dreadful start to the season which saw Barcelona pick up just three victories from their first eight games.
Koeman had been appointed as boss of the Blaugrana ahead of the 2020/21 season, replacing the sacked Quique Setien.
However, despite winning the Copa del Rey, he endured a generally disappointing first season in charge. Barcelona finished third in La Liga and were convincingly beaten in the last 16 by PSG, losing 5-2 on aggregate after being defeated 4-1 at home in the first leg.
