Robert Lewandowski's future at FC Barcelona is becoming less certain as his contract runs to the end of the current season and no decision has been made on where he will play next. The 37-year-old is still one of Barcelona's best-paid players, but several weaker performances have made a continued stay look less likely.
He is reportedly set to earn 26 million euro gross for the 2025/26 season, excluding bonuses tied to appearances, goals and team success, a figure that helps explain why Juventus and other clubs are watching closely. Interest is also said to be coming from Saudi Arabia and Chicago Fire, with Janusz Michallik saying on multiple occasions that both Saudi clubs and Chicago Fire are in the mix.
Gabriele Stragapede said a move to Italy would be extremely difficult for any club there from an economic point of view. He said three conditions would have to line up: Lewandowski's financial demands would need to come down, and any interested Italian side would need to qualify for the Champions League. Stragapede also said Juventus or AC Milan cannot match the money offered by Saudi clubs or even Chicago Fire, while adding that the sporting project matters because a move to Italy would still give Lewandowski a chance to play in the Champions League.
That leaves his next step tied to a familiar late-career choice for elite forwards: money or one more run at the highest level in Europe. Stragapede said that if Lewandowski still wants top-level European football, Italian options could become realistic, but if money decides, MLS and Saudi Arabia would be the clear favorites. He also described him as one of the best strikers Europe has seen in the past 20 years, a player who has scored decisive goals for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
Serie A has long offered veterans a second, or even third, youth, and the league's current picture supports that case. Forty-year-old Luka Modrić is now a key player for AC Milan, Edin Džeko found success later in his career at Inter and Fiorentina, and Zlatan Ibrahimović was a recent example of an older star still shaping results in Italy.
The timing matters because Barcelona is not expected to repeat the salary conditions it has offered him now, and the gap between his current status and his next contract is widening. Lewandowski has four fewer league goals than Lautaro Martínez, who leads Serie A scorers with 16, despite having played significantly less in a league described as equally strong or even stronger. That contrast only sharpens the question of whether his next move is about ambition, money or both.
