‘I Hope I Can Play Together’ With Lionel Messi At FC Barcelona Next Season

Robert Lewandowski has given FC Barcelona’s move for Lionel Messi his blessing, saying that he hopes the pair can play together at Camp Nou next season in quotes relayed by SPORT.

Messi becomes a free agent on June 30 when his Paris Saint Germain contract expires, and Barca vice president Rafa Yuste confirmed last month that the Catalans have already contacted his camp about a possible return.

El Nacional recently reported that Lewandowski is one of four players that wouldn’t be comfortable with Messi enjoying a second stint in Blaugrana, but this might not be accurate if comments made by the Pole at a book launch in Barcelona on Tuesday afternoon are anything to go by.

“I’ve already answered it. But for me, Messi will always be part of Barca,” Lewandowski began when broached on the topic.

“If he comes back, not only for the fans, but also for the players, it would be impressive. His place is here, in Barcelona. I don’t know what’s going to happen, I’m not the person to ask, but I hope we can play together next season. We need this type of player, for sure,” Lewandowski added.

As per a recent slump in form for himself and the Blaugrana, however, who he helped rise to a comfortable points lead at the top of La Liga before they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey semi-finals and drew with Girona 0-0 on Monday, the 34-year-old insisted: “You can’t change everything from one day to the next.”

“In the first season, maybe we can’t be perfect every game. There are many new players, we have had bad luck with injuries – especially in the most important games, such as the Champions League or against Madrid in the Cup. That makes everything harder,” Lewandowski explained.

“We have to be patient and I am sure that the following weeks and next season will be much better.”

“I am never happy with the goals I score. Maybe now I’ve had less than before, it’s not just
just
because of me, we’re a team. In the last few weeks, we haven’t played well and I hope we improve,” Lewandowski added.

Acknowledging that he hasn’t been able to replicate his pre-World Cup form after arriving from Qatar 2022, Lewandowski admitted: “It has been difficult, not only for me, but also for other players and I do not know why exactly. It is something new.”

“If I don’t score in one or two games, I’m not happy. We are at Barca and it’s not just enough to win. [It’s about] how we win and the goals we score,” Lewandowski concluded.

Whether Lewandowski will still be around to see Messi come back is a separate matter, however. According to El Nacional, president Joan Laporta is considering selling the Bayern Munich legend after just a single season amid his fall in production.