There are wild stories…and then there are WILD stories.
For former Bayern Munich striker and current FC Barcelona star Robert Lewandowski, this would classify for the WILD category.
World Soccer Talk captured an excerpt from Sebastian Staszewski’s new biography on Lewandowski titled: “Lewandowski. Prawdziwy” (“Lewandowski. The Real One”), which might startle some fans. In a nutshell, Staszewski says that during the 2022/23 season, an unnamed Barcelona executive approached Lewandowski with a proposal
to, well, stop scoring. This is the excerpt as captured by World Soccer Talk:
“Robert, we want you to stop scoring goals in the final matches.” The player looked at him in disbelief. Although the league title was already decided, as well as the top-scorer award, in more than a decade playing at the highest level, no one had ever asked him to stop scoring a goal in his entire career,” the book read.
The context behind the request was financial. Barcelona was obligated to pay Bayern Munich a €2.5 million bonus if Lewandowski reached 25 goals in the La Liga campaign. With the title already clinched and the striker sitting on 23 goals late in the season, the club hoped to avoid additional payments that could further strain its delicate finances.
In the final two matchdays, a 3-0 win over Mallorca and a 2-1 loss to Celta Vigo, Lewandowski played the full 90 minutes in both matches but did not score. As a result, Barcelona avoided triggering the €2.5 million bonus, on top of the €45 million fee already paid for his transfer and the club’s broader financial difficulties at the time (which persist today).
That…is…crazy and begs the question — do you believe it? Tell us in the comments below…
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
