In his long interview on the podcast of Rio Ferdinand, Robert Lewandowski he also talked about how strong he is Yamal laminaehis teammate at Barcelona: “The first training was… Wow! How is it possible that at this age he’s already like this… I always try to give him some advice: on the one hand it’s incredible what he’s done, but on the other you have to think that soon it will be a huge challenge for him to stay at this level or maybe take the next step. It’s not about the next 2-3 years, but we’re talking about the next 10 years where he will have to think about what to do to be at the top at 28-. 29-30 years or even more. I think this is it the biggest challenge of his career.”
Lewandowski also spoke about his time at Bayern under Guardiola: “The start was hard because at that time he was very focused only on football things. As a man it was difficult for him because he knew he was so brilliant with the tactics that the players they had to follow him. Then I saw that afterwards he started to change his personality or, better to say, to be more human, more open. In terms of the game he never asked me anything, he just told me: ‘Lewa, I can’t help you because you’re better than me, but I can help get the ball to you.”
Finally he concluded with a background on the transfer market: “It was 2012, Sir Alex Ferguson called me and I decided to go to Manchester United. I still remember that conversation today, it was pre-season, I was playing some games with Borussia Dortmund and I knew he would call me. At half-time I was replaced, I agreed to play 45 minutes… Then I received the call and, at that moment, my level of English was different from what it is now, I was about to speak to Ferguson who had the accent Scottish. I didn’t understand anything, I asked him to repeat it, but I knew what I wanted to tell him, which was that I wanted to play for him. Why didn’t I sign for Manchester United? Ask the club. That time I gave my total openness to the transfer, if Sir Alex Ferguson calls you you can’t say no. Especially if you’re 22 or 23 and Manchester United are in their prime. I remember that period, I also remember the conversation with the president of Borussia Dortmund, he told me that they needed me. They wouldn’t have sold me to Manchester United because I was too important for them. He told me it wasn’t the right time. So, I stayed. But that time, after that call, I had given my willingness to transfer.”