BarcelonaA couple of tourists get out of the taxi in a hurry, alarmed because they hear the Camp Nou public address at maximum volume. They join a flood of fans also rushing to get to the stadium. The nearby avenues are collapsed and between the Urban Guard and members of Barça’s private security they are trying to bring order to the chaos. It had been many years since there had been such anticipation to receive a new signing. Well since the arrival of Neymar. And it’s been a decade now.
Just on the same day as the one-year anniversary of Leo Messi’s farewell, Barça turned the tables by presenting Robert Lewandowski, undoubtedly the club’s most media-driven signing in recent years. And the fans, excited by a team taking shape and in need of good news, have responded massively. The club had sold 57,000 seats for the event. In the end, attendance was a little over 40,000.
“Good morning!”, “I’m happy to be here” and “Força Barça!” Three little comments in Catalan that have unleashed the euphoria of some fans who waited patiently on a hot and sunny day. President Joan Laporta has caught on to this optimism and has accompanied Lewandowski almost as if he were a member of the cheering stage. “I’m happy because I’m from Barça”, justified the president, who recalled an “intense year, with many transcendent decisions and enduring a lot of pressure”.
Lewandowski jumped onto the field wearing number 9, which Memphis Depay has worn this season. “A club decision, for image and publicity”, argued the president. Memphis, the team’s seventh striker, is one of those on the exit ramp for a change of scenery this summer. For now, Memphis doesn’t want to leave. In turn, Lewandowski was clear that he only wanted to come to Barcelona, even renouncing part of the salary offered to him by other clubs, as evidenced in the presentation. “After a few minutes in the first conversation I already knew what idea the coach had. When I spoke with him I understood the idea and that it was very clear. I believed that he is the right person.” The Pole, who has won the major club titles and played in the biggest stadiums on the planet, could not hide the feeling of surprise at the reception of the fans. “It’s amazing to see so many fans in this stadium. It’s special for me. I’m very happy; I’m sure that every match at the Camp Nou will be magical, that I’ll score a lot of goals there and that we can win the titles with your support.”
A signing, like all the ones this summer, which has not been easy. The demand of the Barcelona team and the ability of Laporta and Mateu Alemany – the head of football – to move around the offices have been key. And also the personal friendship between the president and the footballer’s agent, Pini Zahavi, whom Laporta has thanked twice in public for his contribution to the agreement. “We intended to sign a goalscoring striker and if a genius comes and asks us for three wishes, we would have wanted him to be a goalscorer, to have won the Golden Boot several times and to be a guarantee of goals. And this is Robert – he said the manager – When we saw that Bayern had the predisposition to make the transfer, it was only a matter of negotiating the amounts. Here Mateu moves like a fish in water, it’s his ability. When we reached an agreement, we had a series of conversations with Robert and his agent, as they were concerned about whether we could sign him up, but I assured them that if one was to be signed up, he would be the first.”
Robert Lewandowski has achieved in a few weeks the goal that Barça had been looking for for months. The store has made a point of selling shirts with the number 9, that of a footballer who has finished the presentation by doing the lap of honor in the stadium. The fans sang goodbye A match day on the Camp Nou esplanade. “For history, for prestige, for the city, for the country, for an attractive League… it was very important to have a player like him,” Laporta added.
No trace of Messi, mourning or nostalgia. “A year ago we had to sadly announce an unwanted situation due to the finances of the club. And now we can say we are turning it around. We are out of the hospital and we are healthier, but we still can’t relax,” the president concluded. The excitement has returned to Camp Nou. Now all that is left is Lewandowski’s goals to close the circle.
