Robert Lewandowski to RETIRE? Barcelona striker puts modest timeframe on ending career despite returning to top form in La Liga title hunt

Lewandowski is still performing at an elite level and remains one of the most prolific scorers in the game. Since joining Barcelona from Bayern Munich in 2022, he has continued to deliver extraordinary performances, and this season alone, he has netted 19 goals in 17 matches across competitions, proving his value to a Barca side currently six points clear at the top of La Liga.

However, the seasoned forward is realistic about the future. In an interview with Forbes, Lewandowski admitted, "At my age now, I know that soon – two, three years, I don’t know exactly – it will be done, it will be finished."

While his contract with Barcelona runs until 2026, with an option for a one-year extension, Lewandowski emphasised he will walk away from the sport when he feels that the fire in his belly is spent.

"I want to say, and only me, not anyone else, when the finish will be," he said. "When I wake up one day and feel I don't want to go to the training session, that will be the first moment to start thinking about retiring."

Nonetheless, he feels no such urge to step away. "Every morning when I’m waking up – and I hope it stays like this – I don’t feel any pain. And I still have the feeling that I love to go to the training session, to the club," he shared.

Barcelona, recognising Lewandowski’s eventual departure, have begun identifying potential successors. Sporting director Deco recently mentioned players like Victor Gyokeres and Erling Haaland as possible candidates to step into the Polish striker’s shoes.

"I think it’s very difficult to find a striker like Robert today. There are one or two at this level. Maybe Haaland or another one," he told Mundo Deportivo.

"Gyokeres is a good player, he’s been scoring goals for a long time in Portugal, we know him like others but he’s not our priority at the moment and we’re not looking for a number nine to replace Robert because we want him to remain happy, scoring goals and at least stay for another season."

Since beginning his career with Znik Pruszkow in Poland’s lower leagues as a teenager, Lewandowski has scored an incredible 688 goals for club and country. His legacy as one of football’s greatest goal scorers is already secure and it remains to be seen if he can add to his ever-increasing tally of goals when Barcelona face Celta Vigo next in La Liga.