Robert Lewandowski believes his move to Barcelona will help him win the Ballon d’Or because the ‘path is shorter’ than it was at Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich were initially hesitant to sell Lewandowski, who had 344 goals in 375 appearances for the club, including 158 goals since the start of the 2019/20 season.
However, the player was eager to take on a new challenge, and a €50 million deal was eventually agreed upon.
The 34-year-old Pole has continued where he left off in Bavaria, scoring 11 goals in his first eight Barça appearances, including three La Liga braces and a Champions League hat-trick.
Lewandowski has won it all at club level and was widely expected to win the Ballon d’Or in 2020 before the award was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. When the award was reintroduced in 2021, Lionel Messi narrowly beat him to it.
However, now that he has moved to Camp Nou, Lewandowski believes his chances of winning the iconic golden ball have improved, owing to Barça’s historic success in the award.
“Barcelona is the team where the most players have won the Ballon d’Or. I think the path is shorter from Barça than from Bayern,” he said, via Marca.
Barcelona’s players have won the Ballon d’Or 14 times. Seven of those are Messi’s, with his 2021 title split between Barça and Paris Saint-Germain, but five other Barça players have also won the Ballon d’Or at some point. Bayern Munich players have won it five times.