While he is doing a personal 'mini pre-season' to get ready for this international break, Wojciech Szczesny gave an interview to 'Mundo Deportivo' and 'SPORT' where he gave his first impressions after signing for FC Barcelona. The goalkeeper spoke about his decision to sign for FC Barcelona, praised some names in the first team and talked about smoking.
The Pole left retirement to wear the Barça shirt once he received the proposal from the Catalan club. The player 'hung up his gloves' in August, but the call from the club and Robert Lewandowski made him change his mind.
"Can I say 'no' to Barça?" And the answer is that you can't say 'no'. If you say 'no' to Barça, it's because you don't have the balls or are brave enough for a challenge like this. You don't have the courage for it"
Will Szczesny stop smoking at Barça?
On the other hand, Szczesny referred to the controversy generated by the cigarette, although he believes that smoking from time to time does not affect his performance and that it is part of his private life. "These are things that I do not change in my personal life and it is no one's business if I smoke. It does not affect, I think it does not affect and what I do on the football field is work twice as hard. And I do not do it in front of the children so that they do not have a bad influence on them," explained the goalkeeper.
"Sometimes someone takes a photo of me hiding behind the trees, where I cannot see them. That is not up to me. I try to hide it and not show it to people. But if someone thinks that I will change my way of being in my personal life, they can think again because I am who I am. I have been like this all my life and these things are simply no one's business. I want to be judged as a goalkeeper and not for looking for stories where no one really cares," he added.
Szczesny reveals who has surprised him at the club
Likewise, Szczesny has revealed that Pau Cubarsi has been the player who has surprised him the most in the team. "He has been impressive for me. After seeing him on television I expected him to be a modern type of defender, nice on the ball, but softer. When you see him live, he is actually not soft at all and makes very good decisions..."
"Of course he is good on the ball because his technical quality is very high, but his defensive qualities are actually very, very high. I look forward to partnering with him. He impressed me a lot"
Finally, the goalkeeper also wanted to highlight Lamine Yamal, assuring that the 17-year-old winger has impressed him too much with his character and the way he acts on the pitch.