Whether the interest was strong or not, this summer, Paris Saint-Germain was one of the clubs linked to former Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, who ended up joining Barcelona.
Transfer window specialist Fabrizio Romano relayed the remarks made by club president Joan Laporta, who said they beat out the French giants and Chelsea for the Poland international. Furthermore, he stated Lewandowski took an offer from the La Liga side to see the 33-year-old earn less money than he would have at Chelsea and PSG.
“We competed with PSG and Chelsea for Lewandowski, and he wanted to come to us; we must thank him because he gets less money from us,” Laporta said.
Romano recently stated that the former Bayern Munich goal scorer gave his word to join the Spanish club back in February should the opportunity present itself, which it did as he’s now at the Camp Nou.
“Zahavi and Lewandowski gave their word to Barcelona since the end of February and have never disrespected that pact: three-year contract with the option of another year on top of that,” Romano said.
“Lewandowski rejected Chelsea and PSG, who wanted to try to make a proposal. Lewandowski wanted to have an experience in La Liga, he considers Barcelona an extraordinary club and has received numerous calls from Xavi: all this has made a difference, he would never have considered any other club.”
Despite missing out on the Polish striker, PSG and Chelsea have done well finding other alternative attacking players. The Ligue 1 side landed Hugo Ekitike from Stade de Reims, and The Blues have brought in Raheem Sterling.