“I wanted to go” – Barcelona star reveals he held talks with former Man Utd boss

Barcelona star Robert Lewandowski has revealed he held talks with Sir Alex Ferguson during his time at Borussia Dortmund.

The former Man Utd manager was interested in signing Lewandowski over a decade ago and personally called the Polish striker.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sport Bild (via the MEN), he revealed: “I remember the moment exactly. We had a friendly with Dortmund in preparation, I think, against Bochum. I was substituted at half-time. I looked at my mobile phone in the dressing room. There was a text message with the sender +44. [Sir Alex] Ferguson had tried to call me and then sent me a message. He wanted to talk to me.”

The moment was a special one for the 22-year-old Bundesliga striker, who following the phone call approached Dortmund’s chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke and Jurgen Klopp.

Barcelona star reveals he held talks with former Man Utd boss

He said: “I wanted to go to Man United! But they said: ‘No chance, Robert. We need you. You have to stay.”

The move never materialised and Lewandowski eventually joined Bayern Munich. And after an illustrious stint in Munich, he moved to Barcelona in the summer of 2022.

With his new side, he finally got the opportunity to play at Old Trafford and even scored a goal from the spot in February. However, Barcelona fell short in the second leg of the Europa League play-off round following goals from Fred and Antony after the break.

Things haven’t been great in the second half of his maiden season in Spain either. The striker has struggled to replicate his early-season form in 2023 and was an anonymous figure in the final third in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, as Real Madrid thrashed Barcelona 4-0 at their own perch. Los Blancos’ talisman Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick – his second in as many games.