Robert Lewandowski said he is determined to help Barcelona return to the top of European football as the prolific Polish striker completed his move from Bayern Munich.
Lewandowski, 33, travelled over the weekend to Miami, where Barcelona are preparing to face Inter Miami in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday evening, and met his new teammates and the club's backroom staff.
The Poland captain is understood to have signed a three-year contract after Barcelona and Bayern reached "an agreement in principle" thought to be around €50 million ($50.7m). Although the deal is yet to be confirmed, Lewandowski was seen in Barca uniform in photos and videos published to the club's social media channels.
"Finally I'm here, I'm very happy to be with Barcelona," Lewandowski said in an interview published on Barca's Twitter account. "The last few days were very long but in the end the deal is done, so the focus can be on a new chapter in my life, a new challenge.
"I am always the guy who wants to win, not only games but also titles, so I hope that we can start the season by winning and that will lead to titles at the end of the season."
A serial winner and prolific goalscorer throughout his 12 years in Germany, Lewandowski won two Bundesliga titles and the German Cup with Borussia Dortmund, before winning eight league titles in a row, three German Cups, and the 2020 Champions League at Bayern.
Lewandowski scored 447 goals in 562 games across all competitions for Dortmund and Bayern, while his 312 Bundesliga goals places him second on the all-time list, behind only Gerd Muller's 365. However, Lewandowski did break Muller's long-standing single-season scoring record when he registered 41 goals in the 2020/21 campaign, surpassing the German's previous milestone set in 1972.
Having spent the past 12 seasons gathering team and individual silverware in Germany, Lewandowski joins a Barcelona side who have fallen behind their domestic and continental rivals in recent years, largely due to the club's serious financial problems.
It has been three years since Barca last won La Liga and seven years since their most recent Champions League triumph. During that lean spell, only once have they progressed beyond the quarter-finals, and Lewandowski hopes he can help fire the club back to winning major trophies.
"I always wanted to play in La Liga and now this is my next step," he said. "I know that for Barca it is time to get back on track. That is why I am here, to help Barca be at the top of European football and winning as many titles as possible."
Lewandowski said manager Xavi Hernandez was a major influence in his decision to join Barcelona and he believes the Catalan - a club legend from his hugely successful 17-year playing career at Camp Nou - is the right man to restore Barca to their former glory.
"I was speaking with Xavi and from the beginning I knew that his ideas were going in a good way," Lewandowski said. "That made it easy for me to decide to come to Barcelona because I want to win and I know that with Xavi it's very possible. He knows how to coach at Barcelona because he was an amazing player and now he is also very good as a coach with an amazing future and I want to be part of this as well.
"I always want to win and I know we have so many good players with amazing quality," the striker added. "With this team we can achieve a lot this season."
Lewandowski becomes Barcelona's fourth major signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie and Danish defender Andreas Christensen on free transfers, and Brazilian winger Raphinha for €60m from Leeds United.
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Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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