Wojciech Szczęsny's football retirement lasted only 36 days. Szczęsny decided to help Barcelona after Marc-André ter Stegen's serious injury and signed a one-year contract. Spanish media report that Szczęsny is set to debut for Barcelona on October 20th in a match against Sevilla.
"If you had told me a month ago that I would be playing for Barça, I would have laughed. If you say 'no' to Barcelona, you don't have guts, and you're not brave enough to take on such a challenge. I think I still have that passion within me," Szczęsny told the newspaper Sport. However, the Spaniards focused on one aspect of Szczęsny's life even before his Barcelona debut.
Szczęsny caught smoking cigarettes. He was fined at Arsenal
As has been widely known for several years, Szczęsny smokes cigarettes. In 2015, Szczęsny was caught smoking a cigarette in the shower after Arsenal's match against Southampton (0-2). Arsène Wenger found out about it and fined him £20,000. Szczęsny was also excluded from the squad for a time, with David Ospina taking his place.
"At that time, I was smoking regularly, and coach Wenger knew very well about it. He just didn’t want anyone smoking in the locker room, and I knew that too. I went to the corner of the showers, at the far end of the locker room where no one could see me, and I lit a cigarette," Szczęsny revealed on the Arsenal Nation Podcast.
"A psychologist explained to Szczęsny that if one or two cigarettes a day relaxes him, he should smoke wherever he wants because, for example, hiding in the shower cabin like he did at Arsenal could only ruin his mental comfort. In England, he would have been severely punished for it, but in Italy, he has more leeway," said Piotr Dumanowski and Dominik Guziak, authors of the book In the Land of Football Gods, published in 2020.
The Spaniards asked Szczęsny about smoking. "It doesn’t affect me"
The newspaper Mundo Deportivo conducted an interview with Szczęsny, during which the topic of smoking came up. What did Szczęsny have to say to Barcelona fans? "These are things I don't change in my personal life, and it's nobody's business if I smoke. It doesn’t affect me. On the pitch, I work twice as hard. I don't smoke around children, so I don't have a bad influence on them. Sometimes someone takes a picture of me, hiding behind trees where I can’t see them," he said.
"I try to hide it and not show people. If anyone thinks I’ll change my personal habits, that won't happen because I am who I am. I’ve been like this my whole life, and these things don't concern anyone. I want to be judged as a goalkeeper, not by stories that don't really matter to anyone," Szczęsny added. During the interview, Spanish journalists referenced examples like Gianluigi Buffon and Johan Cruyff, who also smoked cigarettes during their careers.
"Szczęsny spoke naturally in the interview about everything, including his habit of smoking cigarettes from time to time. A friendly, polite, direct, and very professional goalkeeper who did not shy away from any topic and spoke very clearly. Smoking cigarettes calms his nerves and tension," Mundo Deportivo writes in their article.
