Saudi Arabia will return for world-class Barcelona forward in January – report

With the Saudi Arabian transfer window officially closed now, Europe can breathe a sigh of relief. After all, it has become difficult for them to compete financially with the offers proposed by the middle-east based sides.

Europe’s top five leagues saw a significant drain of talent owing to Saudi’s explosive transfer window that saw names including Sadio Mane, N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, and Neymar Jr move out of the continent.

While Barcelona were relatively unaffected by the new giants of the transfer market, it would have been a completely different story had Robert Lewandowski opted to leave.

The Pole was under pressure

As revealed earlier today, Lewandowski was at the receiving end of several offers from Saudi Arabia in the recently concluded market.

They even offered Barcelona a staggering €40 million for the Polish striker’s signature. However, the 35-year-old’s answer was always a firm “NO”.

The Pole feels happy and settled at Barcelona and never entertained the possibility of a departure despite the lure of a lucrative contract.

A different situation in January?

Now, according to reports from ESPORT 3, the Saudi Arabian clubs have not backed off. They will return in the winter transfer market to sign Barcelona’s marquee striker.

Despite a slow start to the 2023/24 season, Lewandowski has netted twice for the Blaugranas in his last two appearances.

He remains the first-choice striker in Xavi Hernandez’s system and the Spanish tactician has repeatedly stated that he has complete confidence in the world-class superstar.

“Sometimes we’re too harsh on Robert. He gave us the last four points we’ve won. How can you say he’s in a bad moment when he’s scored twice in the last two matches?,” he said in a recent interview when asked about the Pole’s form.

The situation, however, could be drastically different come January if the veteran superstar’s struggle for form continues to grow in the coming months.

Moreover, Vitor Roque’s potential arrival is another factor that cannot be neglected. If the Brazilian phenom arrives to provide direct competition to the former Bayern Munich star, he could well see a lucrative transfer with good eyes.