WHAT HAPPENED?
Lewandowski is having the most impressive season of his career at Barcelona and is on track to hit 50 goals by the end of the campaign. However, with the Polish striker set to turn 37 in August and his playing days numbered, Barca are said to be considering their options up-front.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The Catalans are keen to line up a replacement for the former Bayern Munich No.9 over the next year. According to a report from SPORT, Juventus have offered Barca the chance to sign out-of-favour striker Dusan Vlahovic, but the club’s transfer chiefs are not sold on the Serb, who has been linked with a move to either Saudi Arabia or the Premier League.
Another name mentioned in the report is that of Victor Osimhen, who is currently on loan at Galatasaray from Napoli. The Serie A side are set to part ways with the Nigeria international once and for all this summer, and will look to offload him for a price of €75m. Barca, though, believe that the player’s wages as well as his transfer fee are well beyond their financial capabilities at the moment.
DID YOU KNOW?
Earlier this month, reports from Spain also revealed that Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who is currently set to depart Anfield as a free agent upon the expiration of his contract in June, also offered himself to Barcelona. That move was, however, turned down by Barcelona owing to the Egyptian’s €18m-a-season wages. It is believed that the La Liga giants asked Salah to take a massive pay-cut if he wanted to join them.
WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?
Hansi Flick’s men have a gruelling fixture calendar in the coming weeks, but have already managed to secure two comfortable wins after the international break and lead La Liga by three points with nine games to go. Their next game sees them face rivals Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Wednesday, with the score level at 4-4 following a thrilling first encounter.