Addiction? Barcelona star opens his heart with striking confessions

Barcelona and Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has admitted he is not ready to fight his smoking addiction.

Beyond what he does between the posts, Szczesny has won over the Barcelona faithful with his blunt honesty and easy charm. 

For the first time in his career, the fans have handed him a chant of his own, "Szczesny the smoker", and he loves it, addiction and all.

Sport newspaper carried Szczesny's comments from his interview with "The Athletic", where he opened up about the "weakness" he lives with. It is a "terrible" thing, he said, one he would recommend to nobody, but he is not ready to take it on.

The Poland goalkeeper said: "I never had a chant of my own before, so I am enjoying it. It may not seem like the most professional thing in the world, but I am who I am. People know I have an addiction I cannot get rid of."

"I think this also seems real to them, because a lot of players have different types of addiction, whether nicotine, alcohol or gambling," he added. "But I am open about this matter. It is an addiction I am not even ready to fight. I accept it, and perhaps that is what makes it seem real in people's eyes."

People do not think he smokes because of the paparazzi shots, the Poland goalkeeper explained. They know because he told them himself.

"I admitted my addiction, an addiction that many people around the world suffer from," he said. "And perhaps people can find themselves in this story."

He went on to stress: "I never think about encouraging people to smoke. I think it is a terrible thing, and everyone should avoid it. It is one of my weaknesses, but I am at peace with this weakness."