New Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has insisted that he will 'not be changing his personal life' amid recent criticism of his smoking habit.
The 34-year-old has come out of retirement to sign a contract with Barcelona until the end of the 2024-25 campaign, with the Catalan giants responding to the long-term knee injury for Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Szczesny agreed to mutually terminate his contract with Juventus at the end of last season, but he is now back in football and will battle Inaki Pena for the gloves at the club this term.
The goalkeeper's smoking habit has again been highlighted due to his return to football, but the 84-time Poland international has insisted that he will not be told how to live his life away from the field.
"Smoking? There are aspects of my personal life that I don't change, and it's nobody's business if I smoke. If anyone thinks they can change my personal life, try again, it has never worked!", told Mundo Deportivo.
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Szczesny vows to "help" fellow goalkeeper Pena
Szczesny has admitted that he is not currently ready to feature, having missed pre-season, and his current focus is on 'helping' Pena, who has been featuring between the sticks since Ter Stegen was injured.
"I made it clear to him that my main priority at the moment is to help him, because I am not ready to play, I was on holiday for two months and I need time to be able to guarantee a level to represent the shirt," he added.
"That is why I would not like to come back too soon. My priority is to help him play as well as possible because we need him in very good shape. He has been playing very well.
"Nobody can give you that guarantee anyway (being the number one) because you have to earn your place. And once you earn your place, you will have to play well enough to keep it.
"As I said, I'm here to help. And in what sense the club needs me to help is up to the manager. If it's to help Inaki have the best season he can have, I'll help him in that way. If it's on the pitch, I'll help him in that way. And I think I can do both at a very good level."
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Szczesny targeting major trophies at Barcelona
Szczesny is also confident that he can help Barcelona challenge for major trophies during the 2024-25 campaign.
"I would like to win trophies that I have never won before. There are two or three to compete for, such as the Cup, there is the League and there is the Champions League," he added.
"I want at least two of them. I would like to lift at least two to the sky and then I can finish my career thinking that I did something incredible in that last year."
Barcelona entered the October international break off the back of successive wins over Young Boys and Alaves in the Champions League and La Liga respectively.
The Catalan outfit will return to action at home to Sevilla next weekend, before taking on Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in two huge matches before the end of the month.
Matt Law
