"Barcelona are preparing their new official bid" - Fabrizio Romano says 'Laporta's great relationship with agent' could play major role in signing superstar 

Transfer pundit Fabrizio Romano says Barcelona president Joan Laporta's relationship with agent Pini Zahavi could help pull off Bayern Munich superstar Robert Lewandowski's signing.

The Pole has been linked with the Catalans for the past few weeks as he's openly admitted his desire to leave Bayern Munich this summer.

He's received interest from Chelsea and PSG too but Barcelona have always been his priority and the La Liga giants are preparing to table a fresh bid.

According to Transfermarkt, Lewandowski is currently valued around €45 million and it would be interesting to see if the cash-strapped club would be able to shell out such a big sum.

Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg revealed last month that the 33-year-old striker has reached a verbal agreement with Barcelona and could sign a three-year contract until 2025.

Romano has now revealed that Laporta's close relationship with his agent, Zahavi, has played a key role in keeping their verbal agreement on personal terms.

He wrote on Twitter:

"Barcelona are preparing their new official bid for Robert Lewandowski. Laporta's great relationship with his agent Zahavi helped to wait and keep valid verbal agreement on personal terms.

"Lewandowski's priority has always been Barça, despite Chelsea and PSG approaches."

On Thursday, Spanish news outlet Sport reported that Bayern have rejected a second proposal from Barcelona worth €32 million plus €5 million in add-ons, which is still €3 million less than the Bundesliga side's asking price.

The Bavarians have more urgency to get this deal done as they are close to signing Sadio Mane from Liverpool and want Barcelona to up their bid for Lewandowski.

The Polish international joined Bayern on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund in 2014 and has gone hell for leather ever since, netting 344 goals from 375 games in all competition. Lewandowski has won 19 titles with Bayern Munich, including one Champions League.

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Barcelona looking to rebuild their squad under Xavi

The Catalans oversaw a miserable campaign on all fronts last time and have a massive squad rebuild on the agenda for the summer.

With Luuk de Jong and Adama Traore returning to Sevilla and Wolves after the end of their loan terms, many players are expected to follow them through the exit door, making way for new signings.

Xavi managed to weather the storm to a great extent after taking over, but his real challenge of guiding the club back to its glory days is still ahead of him.