Chain-smoking Wojciech Szczesny reveals he broke Barcelona’s body fat record, played his first season in Spain for FREE and is ‘fed up with long-term suffering’ after old freak injury

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has given a remarkable interview in which he claimed he broke Barcelona’s body fat record and was ‘tired’ of being in long-term pain.

The 35-year-old Polish defender also explains how he technically played ‘for free’ when he came out of retirement last season and was an unlikely hero in Barca’s domestic treble.

He writes of a remarkable final chapter in his career after retiring from Juventus last year and claims to have lost his ‘heart’ for the game.

He signed for Barca as an emergency goalkeeper within 36 days of this announcement, but continues to do things on his own terms, including chain-smoking and eating copiously in dressing rooms.

“I love to eat, and although I managed to stay within the weight limit, I broke Barcelona’s body fat record,” he told the Polish version of GQ Magazine.

‘Once upon a time Lewy [Robert Lewandowski]He mocked me in the dressing room of the Polish national team and said: “How can Szczesny have such a career with this body?” ‘I’ve never been a player who trains harder than others!’

The goalkeeper was an unlikely hero for Barça last season, winning three trophies

Polish defender took a photo with his Ukrainian pop star wife Marina Luczenko

His is a puzzling situation because when he retired last August, he gave the impression that he had the all-consuming passion he needed to keep going. He said now is the time to spend more time with his family.

This makes it all the more surprising to hear that he spent his first year at Barça playing for a net free fee and enduring great pain. He signed after a long-term coup for Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

In 2008, Szczesny had an accident in Arsenal’s gym and broke both his forearms. Since then, he has continued to play with the metal plates on his arms, which have never been removed.

‘That’s one of the reasons why I ended my career. “I’m tired of this pain,” he said.

‘There comes a point during training when I completely lose the feeling in my hands and can’t even hold a water bottle because of the pain.

‘The situation is even worse during pre-season, very tough training. During the season it’s easier because you have two practices and then a match, so your hands can rest and it’s not as severe. It extends from wrist to elbow.’

On his return from retirement, he said: ‘I haven’t lost my passion for football… I just wasn’t excited by the offers. Clubs in the top 10 made offers but it wasn’t about increasing my price. I didn’t want to play just for money.

‘I played my first season at FC Barcelona for free. ‘What I got from Barça was the same money I had to pay Juve for terminating my contract early.’

He even managed to get his son Liam to stop supporting Real Madrid; His pop star wife Marina supported him after he tried to come out of retirement.

Szczeny shocked football when he came out of retirement 36 days after ending his career

He played in 30 matches last season as Barcelona won the LaLiga title, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana.

He is best known in England for having played for Arsenal 181 times after graduating from the club’s academy, which he joined in 2006.

The Polish goalkeeper won two FA Cups during Arsene Wenger’s time as manager and the 2015 final proved to be his final appearance for Arsenal.

He played two seasons on loan at Roma before completing a permanent transfer to Juventus in 2017.

Szczesny won eight trophies, including three league titles. He replaced Gianluigi Buffon as first-choice goalkeeper during his time at Juventus.

He was also named goalkeeper of the year in Serie A after the 2019-20 season.

Szczesny also played 84 times for Poland during his international career; took part in two World Cups and three European Championships.