Robert Lewandowski has blasted Bayern Munich for the "bulls***" lies that the Bundesliga champions made as he attempted to join Barcelona.
The Polish international expressed his desire to leave Bayern at the end of last season, with Barca quickly becoming his preferred destination. The saga over his future dragged on, with Bayern at first refusing to sell their star striker.
They finally allowed him to leave two weeks ago, with Barca paying £42.5million for the 33-year-old. Even since his departure, a war of words has erupted between the two clubs, with Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann questioning where financially-troubled Barca were getting the money to fund the move from.
Lewandowski himself has now hit back at his former club for the way they handled his exit. While he admitted he had a 'very good relationship' with everyone back at the Allianz Arena, their actions this summer have soured things.
"I had a very good relationship with my teammates, with the staff, with the coach, and these are all things I'm going to miss because I spent a beautiful time there. And we were not only friends from the pitch but also something more," he told ESPN.
"But in the end this chapter is over and I open a new chapter in my life and a new chapter in my career. So I feel that I'm in the right position, right place. 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.
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"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. 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."
There had been some suggestions that Lewandowski's desire to leave stemmed from reports linking Bayern with a move for Erling Haaland. But the striker has also shut down those claims claiming that the time was right for him to move on.
"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.
"And in the end I know that something doesn't work well with my person as well and I knew that, OK I see and I feel that maybe it's a good time to move out of Bayern Munich and join Barcelona."
