Super-agent Pini Zahavi bagged hefty commission for facilitating Robert Lewandowski's move to Barcelona: Reports
Robert Lewandowski's agent, Pini Zahavi, reportedly earned €10 million in commission following the striker's transfer from Bayern Munich to Barcelona.
According to The Athletic, as per AS, the fee was on top of the €50 million deal that brought the 33-year-old to the Camp Nou.
Lewandowski's move to Barcelona finally ended one of the summer's longest-running transfer sagas, following his tumultuous final days at the Bavarains.
The report also claims that Zahavi has an excellent relationship with Barcelona president Joan Laporta, with the agent a key factor behind securing the move.
The legendary Polish striker netted an incredible 344 goals in 375 appearances across nine seasons at the Allianz Arena. He also won the Bundesliga title every year that he played there following his free transfer from Borussia Dortmund in 2014.
Laporta didn't hide his admiration towards Zahavi in an interview with the New York Times, as he stated (as quoted by AS):
“Pini Zahavi has been crucial for Barcelona to sign Robert Lewandowski. Pini told me from the beginning that he would resist offers from other clubs, mostly state clubs, who wanted the player.”
Robert Lewandowski accusses Bayern Munich of lying following transfer to Barcelona
The centre-forward left the Bavarians in sour circumstances as it became clear that he was keen to leave the club by any means necessary.
However, in an interview with ESPN, Lewandowski was asked whether Erling Haaland's departure from Borussia Dortmund affected his decision to join Barcelona. He replied:
"No, that was nothing to do with Erling. I am the guy who even if something's not good for me - truth is more important. I don't want to speak about what happened exactly. But if the question is if the decision to move was because of him, no, I didn't see the problem if he joined Bayern Munich."
He added:
"But some kind of people doesn't say to me the truth, say something different. And for me it was always important to be clear, to stay true, and maybe for a few people that was the problem."
He further claimed that there were a lot of rumors spread about him and that his final few weeks at Bayern Munich involved a lot of politics. Lewandowski said:
"So everything that's happened in the last maybe few weeks before I left Bayern Munich, that was also of course a lot of politics. The club tried to find an argument why they can sell me to another club because before it was difficult to explain maybe to the fans."
He added:
"And I had to accept that even though it was a lot of bulls***, a lot of s*** said about me. Not true, but in the end I knew that the fans, even in this period, still support me a lot."