Robert Lewandoski, FC Barcelona summer signing, has revealed that he took permission from his teammate at Barca, Memphis Depay before he inherited the player’s shirt number nine.
Several thousands of Barcelona fans were delighted to see their newly acquired striker on Friday, August 5, 2022, being unveiled at Camp Nou. The fans came in their thousands to see the Polish striker put on shirt number nine.
It was a delight to see one of the most prolific goalscorers of the decade put on the shirt number nine that translates into goals.
Before his unveiling, he had already played in three preseason matches. However, he was on a different number – the number 12. Memphis Depay on the other hand was on the number 9 shirt during the pre-season matches.
Until August 5, 2022, Memphis Depay wore the number 9 shirt. He now has to put on another number if he remains at FC Barcelona this season. There are two possibilities, it is either Depay is cool with Lewandoski wearing the number 9 shirt or depart Camp Nou.
It was reported that Depay and Lewandoski have some kind of understanding before the Polish striker inherited the shirt number. It was gathered that Depay sees no problem in the change.
Robert Lewandoski was quoted as saying: “I wanted to explain it so that there would be no misunderstandings between us. We sit next to each other in the locker room, we sit together at the table, and we have a good flow. There aren’t any problems.”
Barça’s new striker is himself synonymous with goals having been the European Golden Shoe winner for the last two season wearing the number 9 shirt at Bayern Munich.
In his eight seasons with Bayern, his three with Borussia Dortmund, and his campaign with Znicz Pruszkow in 2007/08, Lewandowski wore the famous number that brings with it the expectation of goals.
Just like every Barcelona player, Memphis has been somewhat associated with a likely move away from the club to other clubs this summer, the leading acquirers being Tottenham and Newcastle.
It is not strange when one finds out that Robert Lewandoski immediately captivated the hearts of the fans of Barcelona. The prolific striker is expected to be a massive addition to Xavi Hernandez‘s squad as Barcelona wants to go back to its glory days.
The idea of giving Lewandoski the number 9 shirt must have been in an attempt to boost his morale and that of the Catalan giants as everything needed to be done is being done to get Barcelona back into winning ways.
During the unveiling, the former Bayern Munich’s forward who scored 238 goals in 253 games for Bayern captivated the fans with his skills. He obviously did much better than the likes of Ousmane Dembele – thus showing the fans that he was well acquainted to stepping up.
Robert still had 12 months on his deal with Bayern Munich but decided to leave and move to Barcelona to embrace the challenge. He then signed a four-year contract with the buy-out clause set at £500 million in a £42.5 million deal.
When asked about his move from Bayern Munich to FC Barcelona, Robert Lewandoski said:
“I heard that Barcelona wanted to sign me, and that was a sign that maybe now is the perfect timing to go to Barcelona, go to La Liga. I know that I can still play for a few years at the top high level and that’s why I decided to go to Barcelona. I’m very happy to be part of this team.”
With Lewandowski taking over from Memphis as the custodian of shirt number nine at FC Barcelona, he adds his name to the list of Barça players who have worn the number. Some of the top players to have come before him in recent years include Luis Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Samuel Eto’o, Patrick Kluivert, and Ronaldo.
