Some events may cause our lives to go in a totally different direction. Conversations, human relationships, results of exams etc, all play their part in shaping our destiny. But the legendary Robert Lewandowski and charismatic English coach Sam Allardyce can safely say that a volcano altered their career paths significantly.Back in 2010, while Lewandowski was still playing for Lech in his homeland, he was on the verge of joining the then-Premier League club for around $10 million. He was just about to board an aeroplane and travel to England before making the definitive decision, but then the force of nature prevented him from flying – and turned him to neighbouring Germany and Dortmund.When Sam Allardyce almost signed Robert Lewandowski. pic.twitter.com/O54b28oR1g— Sky Sports Retro (@SkySportsRetro) August 19, 2021 Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull (go on, try to pronounce that) erupted in April 2010 and caused considerable disruptions to air travel for six days. Those six days robbed the Lancashire club of a stellar signing – as confirmed by Allardyce.”We were waiting for him at Manchester airport, and then a week or two later he signed for Borussia Dortmund. I didn’t remember this until reading an article and Lewandowski brought it up. It just reminded me how close we came to one of the world’s top goalscorers.”##NAJAVA_MECA_6662078##Some managers often tell tales of players they ‘nearly signed’ – but Lewandowski himself confirmed that he was close to joining from Lech Poznan after being impressed by Allardyce’s approach.”I had the opportunity to join Blackburn, but I wanted to see how Blackburn looked, the training ground, the place I met with Allardyce. It was in Poland after a game. I thought he was a good guy, a very good coach. He was prepared to take a young player who was something new and might be something special. He wanted to come to Poland to see me. That was nice of him.”🗣️ Robert Lewandowski: “The youngsters know that I’m there for them; they’re ready to talk and they’re not ashamed to ask me.” pic.twitter.com/RKZNf4M5jf— infosfcb (@infosfcb) September 19, 2022 The current Barcelona striker missed out on a chance to play for the 1995 Premier League winners.”There were a lot of offers to think about when I was leaving Poznan. I wanted to know would I be able to learn and develop there. I think it would have been fine if I had gone to Blackburn, but I would have liked to go and see the training centre, the stadium. I couldn’t go because of the cloud. It was the volcano. The volcano with the ash cloud.”Lewandowski signed for BVB, then moved on to Bayern, and, well… you know the story. In the meantime, Blackburn were relegated from the Premier League and are still to return. If only they had a prolific goalscorer in their ranks…
