Can Barcelona find room for Lewandowski alongside Messi and Neymar?

It also then means that Pedro, Tello, Alexis and Deulofeu would be reduced to substitute roles. It’s safe to assume David Villa is being allowed to leave, but what of Barcelona’s young home grown stars? All four would be good enough to start for most teams in world football, so does signing Lewandowski to block their path to the first team fit with Barcelona’s much heralded strategy of promoting from within La Masia? Not really, but it does fit with their policy of signing megastars. From Cruyff to Maradona to Stoichkov to Ronaldo to Ronaldinho, Barcelona have always found room to accommodate the best players in the world alongside their own products. Would signing Lewandowski skew that balance too far towards stars?

If Barcelona do sign Lewandowski, they will have not only the most exciting and potent attack in the world, but also give themselves an entirely new dimension to their play. Neymar and Lewandowski are exceptional on the counter attack, something Barcelona really struggle with. Lewandowski also has the technical ability to play as a central hold up striker which could theoretically give Lionel Messi even more license to cause havoc around the field. It doesn’t exactly help their defensive frailty but it would be a return to the days when Barcelona went around slaying everyone in their path. We might even see Lionel Messi reach new heights. In fact, it could be good for Argentina too as he will be more used to playing with players similar to the likes of Aguero and get used to meshing properly.

If Barcelona do sign Lewandowski, they will immediately have the best attack in the world. However, they will surely see Thiago Alcantara, and one of their other homegrown forwards leave. Is that a price they are willing to pay?