Barcelona veteran opens up on possible retirement plans: ‘Not afraid to finish my career’

Robert Lewandowski will be out of contract at Barcelona thus June, and there has been no progress in terms of his renewal negotiations so far.

At 37 years of age, the club are unsure whether extending Lewandowski’s deal is the right step at this point and have left the decision for a later point in the season.

The Polish star, thus, remains unsure about his future. Given his age, even retirement from the game is an option that can be realistically considered.

Lewandowski speaks

The Polish veteran addressed the topic of his retirement in a recent interview (h/t Mundo Deportivo) and admitted that he did not fear the inevitable moment.

“I am not afraid to finish my career because I am starting to prepare for it, to prepare things that I can do after football.”

“I know that football is a very important part of my life, but it is not my whole life, especially now,” he added with profound clarity.

Elaborating on what had changed in terms of how he viewed the game from earlier in his career, Lewandowski said,

“When I was young I didn’t think about this because I only had football, football and football in my head, but now I know that I’m very close to finishing my career.”

“I don’t know, one, two, three years, maybe four, I don’t know, but I have no pressure. If one day I listen to my body and feel that something has changed, then I will be ready to finish my career,” he added.

On his adaptation to Barcelona

Joining Barcelona late in his career, adapting to Barcelona was easier said than done for the striker. He spoke on how it felt walking into a significantly younger dressing room and maturing along with them.

“In Bayern, the mentality was different because we had more expert, harder players. When I joined Barcelona, I saw many young players who had to be tougher on themselves.”

Lewandowski has grown into a leader in the Barça locker room. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

“The club told me that they needed someone like me, who could teach them that being at the top is not only one or two or three weeks, but also what you do outside the top is very important,” he added on what was expected of him.

Elaborating on the disciplines the club hopes for him to preach, the veteran forward said,

“What you do in the gym, how important it is to work hard every day. But then, when I met people, when I showed them that the culture is different from that of Germany.”

“I began to learn from them too. Empathy, everything around football. And it helped me a lot too,” he said.

Speaking on how he eventually realised that a generation gap had arrived between him and his teammates, Lewandowski spoke on how he learnt from his younger teammates.

“I began to see that they did not like this type of behaviour. I think I was in a different world, a different generation. I’m older than the players’ father. I’m older than Lamine’s father, for example.”

“I told myself. ‘Come on, I have to learn from them too.’ I saw that they understand football a lot.

“I think that many years ago, at that age when the players of Barcelona are now, the players did not understand football as well as they understand it now,” he added, praising the youngsters.