These are Szczęsny's First Statements as a Barcelona Player
Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny admitted, after Barcelona officially announced his signing for one season on Wednesday, that at first, he was unsure about accepting the offer from the Catalan club: "But I talked to my family and friends, and they all told me it would be stupid not to accept."
"Honestly, I was ready to retire and happy with the things that were happening to me. But this is a great challenge for me, and I'm facing it with a lot of energy and enthusiasm," he said in statements released by the Catalan club.
Szczęsny announced last summer, after playing in the Euro Cup with Poland and terminating the remaining year of his contract with Juventus, that he would retire at the age of 34.
However, the serious injury to the German goalkeeper of the Catalan club, Marc-André ter Stegen, who will be out for at least eight months after undergoing surgery for a complete tear of the patellar tendon in his right knee, made him reconsider the possibility of extending his career for at least another year.
In his decision, his compatriot and now teammate in the Barcelona dressing room, Robert Lewandowski, "played an important role." "He was the one who had the idea and the first person to call me to try to convince me," he revealed.
Szczęsny was at the Estadio Olímpico Lluís Companys on Tuesday, watching Barça's 5-0 thrashing of Young Boys in the Champions League, and said he was pleasantly surprised "by the passion" of the culé fans and the "incredible" performance of the team.
"I feel a lot of pride in being part of this incredible family because, although it is a huge institution and a great football club, in these past few days, I have felt like part of that family, and that's something very important to me," he concluded.
