Barcelona could pursue a loan deal for Chelsea striker as an alternative for Lewandowski

While it is understood that Barcelona are dedicatedly pursuing Robert Lewandowski, the team understands there remains a heavy uncertainty over the deal and hence, Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku has now emerged as their plan B for this operation.

Barça cannot pursue a permanent deal for Lukaku, but will attempt to loan him in for the 2022/23 season.

According to Spanish news outlet Mundo Deportivo, the former Inter and Manchester United forward has also attracted interest from Bayern Munich as he is one of the two options along with Sadio Mane that they are looking to approach.

At Barcelona, the priority is still Lewandowski, but the threads are pretty much connected since Bayern are also chasing the Belgian. Their interest in the Chelsea frontman, however, will only escalate if Lewandowski departs.

As far as Lewandowski is concerned, he has already expressed his wish to leave Bayern and Barcelona remain the most plausible destination since his heart is set on moving to Camp Nou.

“What is certain at the moment is that my career at Bayern is over,” the Poland international was quoted as saying.

“I don’t see any chance of continuing my career at this club. Let’s see what we can do in the next two weeks. After the Nations League, we will have time to talk about the situation, but I don’t see any possibility to stay at Bayern,” he added.

Everything is in place at the moment, but Barcelona are still keeping a close tab on Lukaku’s situation as part of their contingency plan. 

The management knows the Belgium forward is certain to leave Stamford Bridge, but they are also aware that Chelsea would want to recoup as much as possible from his sale since they paid €112 million in 2021 and he still has a contract until 2026.

Despite all that, Lukaku’s personal preference is to move back to Inter and for that, he is willing to take a hit but as it turns out, the Serie A side is only interested in a loan deal.

And so, Bayern could pounce on the given opportunity that would most likely pave way for Lewandowski to move to Barcelona. But if not, Lukaku will be discussed by the management.