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Robert Lewandowski says he wanted to play for Manchester United.
Robert Lewandowski has disclosed that early in his career when he received a call from renowned Old Trafford manager Sir Alex Ferguson, he was eager to join Manchester United. But, Borussia Dortmund and Jürgen Klopp prevented a possible transfer.
Lewandowski began his career through the Polish lower levels at the age of 16, eventually joining Lech Poznan in the top division in 2008. He scored 41 goals in 82 games across all competitions during that period.
As a result, the teenage striker was able to join Borussia Dortmund in Germany and was a regular member of Klopp’s team that won the 2010–11 Bundesliga title.
Lewandowski wasn’t the prolific goal scorer he is now at that point in his career, but it looks like Fergie and United instantly saw his huge potential.
It was during Dortmund’s pre-season and he was 22 at the time, which places it around July 2011, when United were in need of a fresh injection up front and would sign Robin van Persie to spearhead their next Premier League title charge the following year.
“I remember the moment exactly,” Lewandowski has now recalled in an interview with Sport Bild.
“We had a friendly with Dortmund in preparation, I think against Bochum. I was subbed at half-time. I looked at my mobile phone in the dressing room. There was a text message with the sender +44. Ferguson had tried to call me and then sent me a message. He wanted to talk to me.
“I was still in the dressing room, I took a shower and called him back, in a quiet corner. My English wasn’t as good as it is today. He has a strong Scottish accent. I was so focused on understanding what he meant! Alex Ferguson tried to be considerate, spoke slowly.
“I was 22-years-old, it was a special moment. I spoke to Aki Watzke and Jurgen Klopp in the camp. I wanted to go to Man United! But they said: ‘No chance, Robert. We need you. You have to stay’.”
Staying put was precisely what he did, and the next season, as Dortmund defended their crown, Lewandowski scored 30 goals in all competitions for the first time in his career. He led the team to the Champions League final the next year before signing for free with Bayern Munich in 2014. In 375 games for Bavaria, he scored an astounding 344 goals, showing that he appeared to become better with age.
The senior player is currently playing for Barcelona and, although playing in a different nation for the first time in 12 years, has shown no signs of slowing down. His 27 goals in 34 games speak for themselves.
Yet when Fergie phoned all those years ago, it wasn’t the first time a team in England had tried to get Lewandowski. Blackburn had the opportunity to sign him directly from Poznan before Dortmund, but their attempt was thwarted in part by a volcanic ash cloud that grounded planes throughout Europe.
A price tag of up to €4m was also an issue for the former Premier League champions, who were relegated in 2012 and haven’t returned to the top flight since. A couple of months after Blackburn had been denied their meeting with Lewandowski, Dortmund signed him for €4.5m.
“I think about it every time I see him play,” former Rovers manager Sam Allardyce remarked three years later. “I think they wanted €3m or €4m, but we were particularly strapped financially at the time at Blackburn. I watched him play, but I didn’t get the chance to meet him. I think his agent said he couldn’t come over because of the ash cloud.
“There were a lot of people looking at him at that time as well, but we had the edge over everyone else because of the attraction of the Premier League. He could have used us as a stepping stone but it didn’t happen.”