Ex-Arsenal star Wojciech Szczesny responds to criticism of his smoking habit after joining Barcelona

10/10/2024 10:01 AM

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has defended his smoking habit after completing a move to Barcelona, claiming it is ‘nobody’s business’ what he chooses to do in his personal life.

Szczesny, 34, announced his retirement from the game in August but returned just over a month later, putting pen to paper on a short-term contract at the Camp Nou.

Barca will be without first-choice keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen for the remainder of the season due to a serious knee injury and it took little time for the Catalan giants to get Szczesny on board.

The former Poland international spent the last seven seasons in Turin with Juventus and previously represented Arsenal, Brentford and Roma across a trophy-laden career spanning 15 years.

Szczesny helped Arsenal win back-to-back FA Cups during his time in north London but famously found himself in hot water after he was caught puffing on cigarettes.

The shot-stopper was dropped from Arsene Wenger’s squad for smoking in the showers in the aftermath of Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat to Southampton on New Year’s Day in 2015 and was pictured lighting up again that following summer.

But Szczesny has continued to smoke throughout his career and is confident it ‘doesn’t affect’ his performances on the pitch.

Asked whether he had a message for Barca fans about his smoking habit, Szczesny told Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo: ‘Absolutely nothing.

‘These are things I don’t change in my personal life and it’s nobody’s business if I smoke.

‘It doesn’t affect, I think it doesn’t affect, and what I do on the football pitch is work twice as hard.’

Szczesny stressed that he wishes to be ‘judged as a goalkeeper’ and not for what he decides to behind closed doors.

‘I don’t do it in front of the kids so it doesn’t have a bad influence on them,’ he added.

‘Sometimes someone takes a picture of me hiding behind the trees where I can’t see them. That’s not up to me. I try to hide it and not show it to people.

‘But if someone thinks I’m going to change my way of being in my personal life, they can think again because I am who I am.

‘I’ve been like this all my life and these things are simply nobody’s business.

‘I want to be judged as a goalkeeper and not for looking for stories where nobody really cares.’

Szczesny believes it would have been ‘disrespectful’ not to consider Barcelona’s offer considering the club’s stature.

'I have a lot of respect for Barca's history, it is one of the best clubs in the world,' Szczesny said.

'I understand the difficult situation that has arisen for them after Marc-Andre Ter Stegen's injury and I think it would be disrespectful of me not to consider this option.'

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