Updated: 20 May 2026 06:36 BST |
8 min read
Departing Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has reportedly turned down a summer move to the Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer.
The Poland international is set to become a free agent after contract discussions with Barcelona yielded no satisfactory results. The Blaugrana wanted him to sign a one-year extension on reduced terms, but Lewandowski was unimpressed by the offer.
He officially said goodbye to the Camp Nou at the weekend, and he will formally depart Barcelona after the final game of the season this upcoming weekend. His future remains uncertain at this stage.
For years, the Chicago Fire have been linked with Lewandowski. The city has the largest Polish population in the US, so it has always been an easy connection to make. The interest from the Fire, though, is genuine.
The club have been trying to make a statement signing for some time, previously exploring deals for Neymar, Mohamed Salah and Kevin de Bruyne. This summer would have been the perfect opportunity to get a deal for Lewandowski over the line due to the lack of a transfer fee.
Lewandowski snubs Chicago
However, Lewandowski is seemingly not keen on playing in MLS, or at least not in Illinois. Sky Germany reports that the 37-year-old has rejected the Fire’s lucrative contract offer.
There is still interest from other, unnamed MLS clubs, but it isn’t clear if they have a better shot of convincing him. The Fire, though, are likely out of the picture now.
It was already reported a few weeks ago that they had somewhat cooled their interest in Lewandowski. Putting two and two together, it appears that his unwillingness to make the move informed this decision.
A more likely destination now appears to be Saudi Arabia, which is making a decisive push for Lewandowski. Reports in Spain recently suggested that the Pole could earn up to €90 million per season in the Middle East.
Aramco-backed Al-Qadsiah as well as Public Investment Fund-owned Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad are currently the Saudi clubs showing the strongest interest in Lewandowski, eSPORTY states.
MLS insiders Tom Bogert and Matthew Doyle corroborated on the Soccerwise podcast on Monday that a Lewandowski move stateside is looking unlikely at this stage, but they are not aware of a final decision from the player.
“What sources have told me is that Saudi Arabia is making a really big push, and one person in Europe said that’s where he thinks he is going to end up, but that’s all speculation, informed speculation, but speculation nonetheless,” Bogert said.
“There is no decision made by Robert Lewandowski yet. When Paul [Tenorio] and I reported a month, six weeks ago that Chicago have cooled a little bit on the Lewandowski pursuit, I should have worded it better or explained it better.
“They are still interested. I think it was in negotiation, and the price wasn’t going to go up. If anything, maybe the offer would go down. I don’t know the exact ins and outs of that.”
He added: “I’m told by a couple of people that there’s a really strong push from Saudi Arabia. Now, there was a strong push from Saudi Arabia for Lionel Messi, and he came here. It’s not a 100% conversion rate, but the money will not be close.
“Chicago would make him a rich man in MLS standards. He would be one of the highest-paid players in the league. No matter what they end up offering him or what the final offer is going to be, it will pale in comparison to Saudi Arabian offers.”
Bogert estimates that the Fire are only able to offer “less than a fifth” of what Pro League clubs are putting on the table for Lewandowski. Doyle confirmed that he has heard similar noises.
“What I’ve heard is that they [Chicago] are really confident that they gave him a good pitch, and they think it’s somewhere around a one in four, one in five chance that they land him,” he revealed.
Perhaps missing out on Lewandowski is for the better, though. While current striker Hugo Cuypers is not the same headline-grabbing name, he is in fine form and sits at the top of the scoring charts with a whopping 13 goals in 10 appearances.
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