Diario Sport: Lewandowski faces pay cut and new role to stay at Barça

According to Spanish media outlet Diario Sport, if Lewandowski wishes to stay at the club, Barcelona has laid out two conditions: first, accepting a new sporting role, and second, halving his salary.

The report states that FC Barcelona has clearly outlined its plans for Robert Lewandowski’s future next season. The club has no intention of unilaterally forcing him out; instead, it prefers to leave the decision about his future entirely up to the player himself. However, this possibility of staying is not without conditions. Taking into account the club’s current financial situation and sporting strategy, Barcelona has established a clear set of guidelines: if Lewandowski wants to fulfill the remaining year of his contract, he must accept this new framework.

The first condition proposed by Barcelona is that Lewandowski must accept a new sporting role within the team. Internally, the club believes that, given the player’s advancing age and the squad’s ongoing renewal, Lewandowski must take on a different role, with his playing time managed more strategically. Barcelona still recognizes him as a top-tier asset, but the status quo from last season—where he played every minute and was an undisputed starter—will shift to a more tactical, situational role aligned with the team’s new sporting structure.

However, the core difficulty in these negotiations lies in the salary aspect. Currently, Lewandowski’s wages represent a pre-tax burden of approximately €26 million on Barcelona’s payroll. The club’s management believes that, for him to remain under the current financial framework, the striker must accept contract terms and a salary level commensurate with his new role as a rotational or backup player. In fact, this means the club is asking Lewandowski to nearly halve his salary—a proposal that has already triggered initial resistance from his camp. To date, Lewandowski and his representatives are unwilling to make such a significant financial concession.

Despite the disagreement over salary, Barcelona continues to hold Lewandowski’s personal character and professional abilities in the highest regard. The club considers him a cornerstone in the dressing room, whose professionalism sets an exemplary standard for younger players. His work ethic and consistent goal-scoring ability remain key reasons why Barcelona hopes to retain him—provided a salary agreement can be reached. Now, the decision rests entirely in Lewandowski’s hands: either adapt to Barcelona’s new conditions or seek a new club elsewhere, where he can maintain his current salary level and sporting role.