Robert Lewandowski drops Blackburn Rovers transfer claim | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers attempted to sign Robert Lewandowski in the summer of 2010

Robert Lewandowski has opened up on how close he came to signing for Blackburn Rovers in 2010.

The Lancashire outfit were competing in the Premier League at the time when the forward was looking to make the switch away from Lech Poznan.

The 36-year-old went on to sign for Borussia Dortmund, and has enjoyed an illustrious career since then, winning titles in Germany and Spain, as well as the Champions League.

However, it has previously been reported that the eruption of the Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajökull led to a potential move to Ewood Park falling apart.

Lewandowski opens up on Blackburn move

Lewandowski has revealed that he wasn’t as close to signing for Blackburn as has been suggested in the past.

The striker has claimed that signing for Borussia Dortmund was always his preferred option, claiming their qualification for European football played a major role in his decision.

"I have to say, it wasn’t so close," said Lewandowski, via FourFourTwo.

"I had the offer and they were interested in taking me there, but I only wanted to visit to see how it looked – the club, the professionalism, and what the training ground looked like.

"That’s why I decided I could maybe travel there – to see – because I had a lot of offers. But I knew that if I was going to go somewhere, I wanted to go to a club playing in the Europa League or internationally.

"I was planning to fly to Blackburn but couldn’t because of the volcano.

“Maybe people thought that when I was in Blackburn to see the training ground and the stadium, they’d try to convince me that I should join them, but I was only visiting to experience it."

Blackburn spent just two more seasons in the Premier League following Lewandowski’s move to Dortmund, but currently sit sixth in the Championship table.

Lewandowski signing might not have saved Blackburn from relegation anyway

Signing Lewandowski in 2010 obviously had the potential to become a huge move for Blackburn given the player he went on to become.

However, there are no guarantees he would’ve developed at such a level while at Ewood Park anyway.

Regardless, the behind the scenes issues that arose in the following years meant that Rovers likely would’ve struggled anyway.

Being managed in the Premier League by Steve Kean could’ve counteracted any talent that came into the team at the time given how things went for the club during his tenure.