Birmingham City: Details emerge of failed Robert Lewandowski transfer move | OneFootball

Former Birmingham City scout Paul Montgomery has revealed the club were keen on Robert Lewandowski in the past.

Former Birmingham City scout Paul Montgomery revealed that the club were looking at Robert Lewandowski when he was playing for third tier Polish side Znicz Pruszkow.

The 36-year-old is a legendary striker in the game, having starred for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and now Barcelona over the years.

During his career, Lewandowski has won the Bundesliga ten times, multiple domestic trophies, La Liga and the Champions League, scoring hundreds of goals along the way.

Birmingham City missed out on Robert Lewandowski transfer

However, the striker could have had a very different career path, as it has been revealed that Blues were monitoring Lewandowski when he was a teenager and catching the eye with his goalscoring form for lower league side Znicz Pruszkow.

In the end, Lewandowski would go on to join Lech Poznan in the top-flight, before joining Dortmund.

Yet, speaking to TalkSPORT, Montgomery gave an insight into Blues’ approach and thoughts on the player as he discussed a deal they missed out on.

“It's weird because I remember we needed a central striker and I'd said to Alex (McLeish) and Alex had spoken to me, and he had a couple of contacts in Poland and said, ‘look, they really like this man’.

“I went and watched him two or three times and I said, ‘listen, he's a good player, no doubt about it, but he does everything in wide areas’.

“Those days he would spin and do everything in wide areas. He isn't the central type of striker that we need. And then the rest is history. He's become this brilliant goalscorer, you know, so I don't need to tell you.”

Lech Poznan would pay just £320,000 for Lewanowski in 2008, and Montgomery stated that Birmingham thought he would be available for around £250,000 had they pursued him prior to that switch.

Birmingham City’s history could’ve looked different with Robert Lewandowski

Many clubs will have stories of players they missed out on in the past, and this is certainly up there in terms of big regrets.

At the time, Blues were winning promotion to the Premier League, but they would only spend two years among the elite before dropping back to the Championship, and they have yet to return to the top-flight since that relegation.

Of course, we don’t know how things work out, but having Lewandowski on their books wouldn’t have done Birmingham any harm in their bid to establish themselves in the Premier League!

Clearly, Lewandowski always had the talent to reach the top, so it would only have been a stepping stone in his career, but it would’ve been an interesting watch - and it surely would have made Birmingham a big profit in a potential sale.

At 18, leaving Poland would’ve been a huge step for Lewandowski, so it’s fair to say he got it right in moving to Poznan, and it was from there that he made the big step to Dortmund, the club where he made his name as one of the best strikers on the planet.