Robert Lewandowski could see his time at Barcelona cut short. After a successful stint at Bayern Munich, the Polish soccer star made a high-profile move to Blaugrana last year. At the moment, he is expected to continue until June 30, 2026. However, things can take a U-turn for the iconic striker if he fails to meet one clause put forward by Barca in the 2024/2025 season.
After Lewandowski made his big move to Barcelona, it was revealed that his salary would increase year after year, starting at $20 million. Recently, the amount he will receive each year was revealed, and also the tricky clause in his contract.
The clause that can put Robert Lewandowski in danger
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Robert Lewandowski can be terminated from Barcelona in the third year if he does not play 55 percent of the games. This means he should be a starter or play a minimum of 45 minutes in each game. This clause is quite startling, as Lewandowski’s time in Barcelona will completely depend on his performance, giving the club an advantage to make the best use of him.
Barça can unilaterally release Robert Lewandowski after the end of next season if he does not play at least 55% of the minutes that he's available for in the 2024/2025 season.
— @sport pic.twitter.com/XoFFpfrWkN
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) December 2, 2023
As per the contract, in his first year at Barcelona, he will receive $20 million, and it will increase to $26 million in the second year, which is this season. Interestingly, when he plays for the next season, he can earn a whopping $32 million. However, he should fulfill the clause to earn the enormous sum, or else the club can terminate him without letting him complete the fourth year.
Even though his recent performances at Barcelona were not up to par, he is one of the best strikers of his generation. In the 2021–22 season, the 35-year-old scored a whopping 50 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions for his former club, Bayern Munich. Now he must focus more on maintaining a top game to remain in Barca.
Right now, it seems that Lewandowski is not having a great time in the soccer world. Aside from the revelation about this contract, Barca legend and World Cup winner, Lionel Messi, recently stated that he is angry with the former Bayern Munich star.
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The reason behind Lionel Messi’s anger
The Polish star was expected to win the 2020 Ballon d’Or. However, the ceremony was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later, when Messi received his Ballon d’Or award recently, he mentioned that Lewandowski should be honored for his exceptional performances. However, the 35-year-old didn’t feel that Messi was genuinely praising him. And this made Messi angry, as the Argentine superstar felt insulted. Messi said, “I was angry and thought he shouldn’t have said what he said.“
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The feud between the soccer superstars has become the talk of the town, as Messi openly called out the Barcelona star for being rude. Is this the beginning of a rivalry? That is yet to be seen. Meanwhile, with the detail about Lewandowski’s contract, he will have to do more to keep his place, as well as stay at the club. 8 goals across 16 appearances is not bad, but Barca are also 4 points behind the league leaders in the La Liga. And surely his recent ankle injury didn’t do him any favors. So all eyes will be on the striker to see how things unfold as the season goes on.
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