Lewandowski confirms Barcelona begged him to stop scoring

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has confirmed the reports that the Blaugrana urged him to stop scoring to avoid paying bonuses to Bayern Munich.

As Pulse Sports reported, a Polish journalist, Sebastian Staszewski, claimed that Barcelona implored Robert Lewandowski to stop scoring after they secured the league title in his first season, in an attempt to avoid paying Bayern Munich more in bonuses.

Staszewski is publishing an autobiography on the Barcelona striker. In the book, he detailed an incident from Lewandowski's first season: a meeting with the club's leadership, in which Lewandowski was instructed to stop scoring. 

“Barcelona, in a meeting in which the president, Joan Laporta, was present, asked him to stop scoring goals,” he said, per Diario AS. 

“And that the reason was economic, because Barcelona had to pay Bayern a bonus of €2.5m if the Polish striker reached 25 goals. With the title already secured, Barcelona would have chosen to ask him to stop scoring.”

During a recent interview with another Polish journalist, Bogdan Rymanowski, the Barcelona man was asked to verify the claims. While he refused to dwell on it or criticise the club, he confirmed that it did happen.

"There are things I don’t want to talk about. I respect Barcelona and the people who work there a lot. I was aware of the club’s situation,” he said, per Goal. 

“There were many other situations that needed to be resolved for the good of the club. In short, it was a bonus, and it is known that at that time Barcelona looked to save every euro. 

‘It was no small thing, and for me, nothing changed either. I have no problem with that, but it stuck in my head and I wondered whether to score a goal or not."