The post-Lionel Messi period at Barcelona has carried an odd, nearly surreal ambiance, the sort that lingers when a dynasty ends and the lights come again on. Messi’s departure in 2021 collided with a fiscal collapse that the membership nonetheless feels right this moment, and Robert Lewandowski—arriving from Bayern Munich a 12 months later—walked straight into that actuality. The striker’s new biography locations these early days into sharper focus, and his recollections weave collectively a portrait of a membership nonetheless standing however unquestionably altered. Barcelona is spoken of within the singular all through the passages, and Messi’s shadow stays current, simply as Lewandowski’s arrival symbolizes the brand new world the crew had entered.
The Argentine’s emotional exit, confirmed by Joan Laporta in 2021, marked a soccer rupture: a famous person pushed out not by sporting decline, however by funds. That set the tone for every thing that adopted. When Lewandowski later joined from Bayern, he landed in a membership that also felt the aftershocks of that second, each on the pitch and within the smallest corners of the sporting advanced.
Barcelona’s disaster was not a secret, however the depth of it solely made sense when Messi left. Years of debt collided with La Liga’s wage cap restrictions, and even Messi’s willingness to take a big pay lower couldn’t save his contract. His tearful farewell nonetheless echoes by that first paragraph of any story in regards to the membership’s trendy id.
“It’s unimaginable for us to maintain Messi attributable to La Liga laws and our financial scenario,” Laporta admitted on the time. That single sentence cracked open a reality: the membership might now not behave just like the Barca that the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner had helped construct. As Messi left for PSG, the Catalans reshaped themselves with necessity because the driving power. Finances constraints touched each nook of the establishment. This, as Lewandowski’s biography now confirms, went effectively past transfers and salaries.
Lionel Messi attends his press convention about his departure from FC Barcelona
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The biography named ‘Actual One’ and interviews with author Sebastian Staszewski reveal a second that completely captures the membership’s offbeat new circumstances. Lewandowski’s first coaching camp with Barcelona happened in Florida in 2022. Throughout his first lunch within the membership eating corridor, he observed one thing uncanny: there have been no sure forms of meat or fish on the menu. When he requested about it, he was advised the membership was attempting to economize. The element is actual, and it’s weird. For a world large to chop corners this fashion hints at how deep the monetary disaster ran.
Within the autobiography’s supporting interviews, Staszewski explains that this was not drama, simply trustworthy shock. “He was very shocked that there have been no sure forms of meat and fish. He requested a query and was advised that they wanted to economize… He wasn’t upset, simply shocked,” Staszewski stated. The author even famous the veteran’s status: a participant so meticulous along with his food plan that he can detect poor-quality components in one thing so simple as soup.
There’s an added twist: Barcelona later restored these dishes. Staszewski defined that Lewandowski didn’t demand something aggressively; he merely inquired. “It wasn’t an issue… It’s a shaggy dog story that exhibits what issues Barca had… Now, so far as I do know, there are extra forms of meat and fish accessible, and there aren’t any extra issues,” he added.
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