After a prolonged transfer saga, Barcelona have finally gotten their man!
It has been known for some time that the Catalan giants were keen on Robert Lewandowski. After missing out on Erling Haaland to Manchester City, the Blaugrana quickly shifted focus to the Polish superstar in their bid to add a world-class no.9 to their ranks.
While Bayern Munich initially refused to sell their talisman forward, a hefty transfer bid that will potentially reach $50.5M and protest from the player himself forced the German giants into sanctioning this move.
And the striker isn't the first player to arrive at the Camp Nou this summer, following in the footsteps of Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, and Raphinha. Nor will he be the last!
In an interview with club icon Hristo Stoichkov, Barcelona president Joan Laporta revealed that the Spanish giants are planning on further additions, with the focus now being on addressing their defense.
While Bernardo Silva has been heavily linked with the Blaugrana, It looks like that rumored move will have to wait until Xavi gets a center-back—or full-back—through the door. While the club president did not mention a name, it is clear who the Catalan giants are targeting and that's Sevilla ace Jules Kounde.
"We want to make a competitive team, give Xavi the tools to have a good team and I think we are on the right track," Laporta said, as per Marca.
"My dream is for Barca to become a world reference again and we are working for it. If the economy doesn't recover it will be very difficult.
"We are achieving it, but we have to work even harder. Football doesn't wait. We have to do it now. With [Ousmane] Dembele, Raphinha, Lewandowski, [Franck] Kessie, Auba [Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang], Ferran [Torres]... I think Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff are doing a good job.
"Now it's time to work on defense. Xavi has us focused on a series of players and I hope that the Catalans can take some more joy."
But the question is will the aforementioned French center-back make the move to the Camp Nou? Chelsea are also in the race for Kounde, with some news outlets tipping Barcelona as the favorites to land him while others claim the Premier League giants have the advantage.
According to the reliable Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports, Sevilla are holding out for a fee of over €60M ($61.5M) and are seeking a bidding war between the two European giants. This will be just another interesting transfer battle involving these two clubs.
