Barcelona star offers his shirt number to Robert Lewandowski - Reports
Barcelona striker Memphis Depay will be offering his No. 9 shirt to Robert Lewandowski, according to Tribal Football.
Following weeks of speculation, the Pole finally reached an agreement with the Catalans to join the club from Bayern Munich.
The Bundesliga champions accepted their final proposal and Lewandowski is now set to join his new club at the weekend.
Bundesliga: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Champions League: 🏆
UEFA Super Cup: 🏆
Club World Cup: 🏆
DFB-Pokal: 🏆🏆🏆
DFL-Supercup: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: 🥇🥇
European Golden Shoe: 🥇🥇
Ballon d’Or Striker of the Year: 🥇
Robert Lewandowski’s run at Bayern was ridiculous 😤 https://t.co/NbZ7M06WiW
Lewandowski donned the No. 9 jersey at Borussia Dortmund and Bayern and could continue the tradition at the Camp Nou too, although No. 11 is also available at Barcelona.
After Adama Traore returned to Wolverhampton Wanderers after the end of his loan spell, Barcelona haven't given his shirt number (11) to anyone yet.
Lewandowski wore the number 11 shirt briefly early on into his international career with Poland before switching to No. 9.
Given his playing style, the latter suits Lewandowski perfectly well as he's a pure striker; the ultimate penalty-box poacher who scores a ton of goals.
At 19 years old, Pedri is already Spain's No. 10 and Barcelona's No. 8 😮
Golden boy ⭐️ https://t.co/PXmle9I49Z
This could mark the second change in squad numbers at Barca, with Pedri having already swapped 16 for 8 after Dani Alves left the club.
Numbers 15 and 17 are also vacant as Clement Lenglet has been loaned out to Tottenham Hotspur, whereas Luuk de Jong has returned to Sevilla.
Barcelona will also have to assign shirt numbers to Raphinha, Andreas Christensen, Franck Kessie and Pablo Torre, their other summer acquisitions.
Lewandowski's arrival at Barcelona complicates things for Aubameyang
While Lewandowski's signing represents a coup for the Catalans, his arrival complicates matters for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabonese international joined the side in January and struck 13 goals in all competitions, the joint-most alongside Depay.
He was supposed to become their main striker in the 2022-23 season but his role has come under question after the Polish ace's arrival.
Back in the 2013-14 season, Jurgen Klopp played both strikers upfront at Borussia Dortmund, something which Xavi could replicate.
Aubameyang also has some experience of playing out wide at Arsenal as Mikel Arteta shunted him out to the wings to accommodate Alexandre Lacazette.
However, that would create competition for places as Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres and Depay can operate from wide positions too. Barcelona also have Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha in the attacking department.
Barca play Inter Miami in a friendly on Tuesday.