It has been 18 months since Barcelona took the decision to sack Xavi Hernandez, and replaced him with Hansi Flick. The saga with the former head coach was one that lasted several months, and it has now been claimed that the final decision was influenced by one of the club’s most influential players.

As per Diario AS, Polish journalist Sebastian Staszewski has claimed that Lewandowski encouraged the Barcelona hierarchy to sack Xavi, who had only been convinced not to resign from his positions weeks prior.

“Xavi knew that Lewandowski had become his rival in the dressing room. But life showed that it was Xavi who had to leave the club. Flick came along and suddenly Robert played a fantastic season. When it comes to winning, Lewandowski is relentless.

“It’s crazy, he has a deep desire to win that leads Robert to apply a very simple division in his life. Those who help him succeed are friends and those who stand in his way are enemies. If a coach hinders his convictions, Robert usually thinks he’s right.”

Staszewski also claimed that Lewandowski was involved in a similar situation at Bayern Munich, where he complained about now-Barcelona manager Flick, with it also noted that he could have been involved in the decision to sack Carlo Ancelotti in 2017.

“He didn’t like, among other things, that his assistant smoked in training and that the intensity of the sessions was too low.”

Lewandowski may not be at Barcelona for much longer

Lewandowski is clearly a very influential figure at Barcelona, although these claims cannot be verified for now. Nevertheless, it appears that the Polish striker is coming towards the end of his time in Catalonia, with it appearing increasingly likely that he will depart at the end of this season when his contract expires.