After completing a £42.5 million transfer from Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski has met up with his new Barcelona teammates in Florida.
The prolific Polish striker hugged his new teammates and club president Joan Laporta before posing on a lifeguard stand at a Florida beach.
The 33-year-old, who scored an incredible 344 goals in 375 games for Bayern, vowed to score a ton of goals in Spain to bring back the Nou Camp's glory days.
"I am finally here, and I am thrilled to be joining Barcelona." The previous few days have been really demanding, but the agreement is now final, so I'm going to concentrate on a fresh chapter and a fresh task,' Lewandowski said.
'But I still want to win, not only the game but the titles as well, so I'm hoping that we'll start winning right away and compete for the crowns both during the season and at the end. I have always aspired to play in LaLiga and for the biggest teams. The next step is it. It was a new challenge for my personal life as well. Barcelona has to get back on track, and I'm here to assist them do that by getting them back to the top and helping them win as many trophies as they can.
'"I have been communicating with Xavi, and I know that his head and his thoughts are going in a good direction from the beginning." He made it simple for me to travel to Barcelona. I play because I want to win, and with Xavi, it is highly likely to happen. Goals are always a high, therefore he knows exactly how to coach Barcelona because he was an incredible player and is now a very good coach with an incredible future. I constantly aspire to victory, not just in games but also in titles. We can accomplish a lot this season since we have so many players of incredible caliber.
Tuesday's opening match of their American trip against MLS team Inter Miami might see Lewandowski make his Barcelona debut.
Then, on July 23, they travel to Las Vegas to face their bitter rivals Real Madrid. Then, on July 26, they play Juventus in Dallas, and on July 30, they play the New York Red Bulls.
Lewandowski traveled to Miami for a physical after Barcelona revealed over the weekend that they had reached an agreement in principle to sign him.
With only one year left on his contract, the forward told Bayern of his wish to leave last month.
Lewandowski said Sky Sports News in Germany, "I will return and properly bid all the staff farewell. "I didn't have a lot of time to be ready for it." You never forget how great these eight years were. In Munich, I had a terrific time. I'll be taking off shortly, but after the training camp I'll return, properly bid you farewell, and arrange a few more things.
"I bid the players on the field today adieu." I wasn't concerned about being hurt during practice. At home, anything can happen to me.
I re-trained with the boys because I wanted to stay in shape.
The 33-year-old scored an amazing 50 goals from 46 appearances last season, some of the best scoring rates of any striker in Europe.
He scored 55 goals in 47 games, putting him in position to win the Ballon d'Or for the 2019–20 season. Unfortunately, the ceremony was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He scored 48 more goals the next year, but Lionel Messi won the prize.
Every year he won the Bundesliga championship, and in 2020 he also won the Champions League.
At the Nou Camp, the Polish international will be reunited with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, his old strike partner for Dortmund. Together, the two scored 44 goals.
Despite their financial difficulties, Barcelona has already started a strong hiring spree this summer, signing free agents Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie.
Due to their cautious approach to their transfer business, Barcelona agreed to an £8.5 million penalty clause when they finalised the signing of Raphinha from Leeds on Friday in a deal worth up to £55 million.
To ensure that their new signings can be registered under LaLiga financial requirements, they must unload a number of players.
Frenkie de Jong, who is on the tour with Barcelona, may be one of them for Manchester United.
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