president Joan Laporta has hailed the arrival of Robert Lewandowski and revealed the club’s new signing turned down more lucrative offers from the likes of and PSG.
The prolific Poland international was reported to have been ’s ‘dream’ signing following the acrimonious departure of , who returned to Inter on loan following a miserable 12 months back at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are unlikely to sign a direct replacement for Lukaku and have invested £45million in Raheem Sterling who will add versatility to an already flexible forward line.
The availability of Lewandowski, however, prompted Chelsea to test the waters, but the now former Bayern Munich striker only had eyes for the Catalan giants, according to Laparta, who will now press ahead with pans to sign another Blues target, Sevilla’s Jules Kounde.
‘After the Lewandowski deal, we are now looking at strengthening the defence, said Laporta.
‘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.’
Lewandowski, meanwhile, passed a medical on Monday and is set to be officially unveiled as the club’s new No.9, as long as Memphis Depay is willing to give up his shirt, on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old eventually parted company with Bayern on good terms after the club relaxed it’s stance and Lewandowski is now looking forward to restoring Barcelona to their former glories.
‘I am very happy to be here, the last few days were very long but in the end the deal is done. I am now going to focus on a new chapter of my life, a new challenge but I’m still the same guy who not only wants to win games but the titles as well,’ he said on Monday.
‘I hope from the beginning of the season we can start winning and make our way to winning the titles. It’s time for Barca to get back on track and I’m here to help Barça to be on the top and win titles.
‘I was speaking to Xavi and I knew from the beginning that his ideas are going in a good way, hence it was easy for me to come to Barça as I know that
‘Xavi knows how to coach Barça as he was an amazing player for the club. He has an amazing future as a coach and I want to be a part of it
‘We have many good players with amazing quality and with this team we can achieve a lot this season.’
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