United keen on veteran Barcelona striker on free transfer

Soccer Football – LaLiga – FC Barcelona v Valencia – Johan Cruyff Stadium, Barcelona, Spain – September 14, 2025 FC Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring their fifth goal REUTERS/Albert Gea

Manchester United are interested in signing Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski as a free agent next summer. The 37-year-old has entered the last year of his contract, and although Barcelona have the option to extend his deal by a further 12 months, there are reportedly reservations internally.

Barca manager Hansi Flick employs a high-intensity pressing game, and uncertainties remain about the player’s energy and ability to execute the high press. The Daily Star has reported that United have now been put on alert to Lewandowski’s situation, and could join the race to sign the striker if his contract is allowed to run down.

Lewandowski has scored four times in nine appearances this season, despite question marks over his mobility. United signed Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig this summer for £74m but manager Ruben Amorim has bedded the player in slowly.

The Slovenian has started only four Premier League games out of his eight appearances, scoring two goals.

United might be encouraged from their previous pursuit of the player, with Lewandowski recently admitting he gave the green light for the move. The Red Devils were chasing Lewandowski in 2012, when the player was at Dortmund and fresh off the back of a sensational 30 goal campaign.

Despite the player giving his blessings, Dortmund refused to budge on their talisman, having won the Bundesliga crown twice in as many years. It wasn’t meant to be in the end, with Lewandowski seeing out his contract at Dortmund before joining Bayern Munich on a free transfer two years later.

“To Manchester United I decided and said yes,” he said in an interview with BBC Sport earlier this year. “I wanted to join Manchester United, to see Alex Ferguson.”

“They (Dortmund) could not sell me,” he continued. “Because they knew if I stayed they could earn more money, and that I could wait maybe one or two more years.”

“But it is true that I said yes to Manchester United.”

Nadji is a football writer with over 10 years of experience covering the Premier League. His work has been featured on Football Fancast, Arsenal-Mania, and Arsenal.com, where he has built a reputation for delivering sharp analysis, engaging storytelling, and in-depth coverage of the game.