Barcelona have confirmed an agreement to sign Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich as Xavi's rebuild at Camp Nou continues apace.
The confirmation of the deal comes at the end of a saga that began before even the 2021-22 season was over, and ends with Barca once more having a modern icon of the game on their books, a year on from Lionel Messi's departure.
Barcelona will pay an initial fee of €45 million (£38m/$45m) to bring Lewandowski to Catalunya, with a further €5m (£4.3m/$5m) potentially due in add-ons if certain clauses are met.
A statement from the club read: "FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich have reached an agreement in principle for the transfer of Robert Lewandowski, dependent on the player passing a medical and contracts being signed."
Lewandowski is expected to sign an initial three-year contract with an option to extend it by a further year, meaning he could remain at Camp Nou through until the end of the 2025-26 season.
Back in May, Lewandowski expressed his desire to leave Bayern Munich, rather than see out the final year of his contract at the Allianz Arena.
While Bayern initially were not happy with the public announcement of the player, they have now ultimately decided to let him leave.
Speaking to Bild on Saturday, Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn said: "In the end, Barcelona offered a sum that selling him made absolute sense for us.
"We've also recently been very successful in the transfer market and signed an absolutely world-class player for the offence in Sadio Mane."
Though notionally a wide player, Mane may well be tasked with leading the line from a central position once the new Bundesliga season starts if Bayern do not sign a direct Lewandowski replacement.
The 33-year-old Poland forward will almost certainly be a regular starter for Barcelona but will face competition from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who joined the club in January 2022 and regularly featured in Xavi's line-up as a No.9 in the second half of last season.
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