The details behind the transfer of Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona

After much speculation over the past two months, it appears Robert Lewandowski will be a Barcelona player, with a litany of sources confirming a deal between Bayern Munich and the Blaugrana on Friday night.

Both Sport and Marca coincide on the figures behind the deal Barcelona will pay up to €50m in total for the 34-year-old, with the deal split between a fixed fee of €45m and a further €5m in variables.

The Catalan club were reportedly keen to avoid reaching a fixed €50m fee, after raising their initial offer from €40m. It has been taken as a given that Lewandowski had already agreed a contract with Barcelona some time ago, but Sport there could be a last minute change to that deal. What was an initial three-year agreement may be extended to four, so that Barcelona can better spread out the cost of his signing, something is unlikely to upset Lewandowski.

Barcelona are certainly convinced that Lewandowski will help them to take the next step as a club, with only Cristiano Ronaldo coming close to similar figure at his age. The Portuguese moved to Juventus for €100m in 2018, after turning 33 that year. Given the numbers and the length of the contract, the pressure will be on both Lewandowski and Joan Laporta to ensure he justifies that fee with trophies.