Laporta thankful that Lewandowski turned down Chelsea and PSG for Barcelona

Barcelona President Joan Laporta provides details of deal with new signee Robert Lewandowski; says thankful to the Polish striker for choosing the Catalan club.

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Following the transfer deal with Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, Barcelona's president Joan Laporta is a happy man. The Catalan club's supremo recently chatted with Hristo Stoickhov on TUDN about Barca's path under Xavi Hernandez, new additions, plans for the remainder of the summer, and many other topics while the team was on a pre-season tour in the US.

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Laporta began by insisting that Barcelona will not make the same mistakes as in the past and will only recruit players who fit their philosophies and way of playing. "Barcelona will not make the same mistakes again. We will not have players who do not fit our style. We will move carefully," he said.

After greatly bolstering the attack, the Barcelona president admitted that the team is now putting more emphasis on the backline. "It's now time to strengthen our defence. I can't give names, but we will strengthen our defence. Xavi gave us 6 names, and I hope the Cules will enjoy," he added.

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Laporta then went into the details of Lewandowski's signing, saying, "Lewandowski signed for 45 million euros + 5 million euros in variables. We have to thank him because he pressured Bayern to move to Barcelona when PSG & Chelsea were interested in him."

The president confirmed that the 33-year-old would earn less than he would have at PSG and Chelsea. "We have to thank Lewa because he is receiving less than what PSG or Chelsea offered. Every top team has a 'killer' striker up top. Now, we have secured that too. I know that Culés are very happy with the signing of Lewandowski. With Lewandowski, Ansu Fati, and Aubameyang, goals are guaranteed." he added.

WATCH: Robert Lewandowski's first interview in Barcelona colours

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“Lewandowski, Raphinha, Dembélé, Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati, Aubameyang, and let’s see how Abde develops… All of these players will contribute to our spectacular frontline that will score lots of goals," Laporta claimed.

Talking about manager Xavi and the direction in which he wants to take the team, Laporta stated, "Pressure, passion, possession. That is what Xavi is trying to implement at Barça. With the young players and the experienced ones, look at this team starting to take shape. Everything has to be synchronized and coordinated. It's an orchestra with Xavi directing."

Laporta reiterated that he wants to lead Barcelona to the top of the league and that the team must make investments in the players since football does not wait for anyone. "Football can't wait; we need a competitive team now. My dream is to make Barca the global reference in football again. I always try to improve on things that I have done in the past. We're going to try and do better than we did in my first era es president. That'd be very difficult though, as I am the president of the sextuple and the 2-6 at the Bernabeu in the same season," he added.