Lewandowski warns Yamal and Mbappé: 'Impossible to stay at top so long'

Lewandowski warns young stars like Yamal and Mbappé that sustained excellence at the top will become harder due to earlier peak demands and physical toll.

Robert Lewandowski has cautioned the next generation of football's elite that maintaining top-level performance over many years will become increasingly difficult. Speaking to The Athletic, the 38-year-old Chicago Fire striker noted that young players now reach the highest level much earlier than his generation did, exposing them to intense pressure at a younger age.

"Our generation needed more time to achieve something. We had to be patient. Now everything moves much faster for young players. They start much earlier," Lewandowski explained. He stressed that the issue isn't a lack of quality in the new generation, but rather the challenge of sustaining elite performance over a long career when success arrives so young.

The physical and mental toll compounds the problem, Lewandowski argued. Players achieve major success early but must then maintain that standard for many more years, risking burnout from fatigue, pressure, and the difficulty of preserving hunger after early triumphs. In the same interview, Lewandowski backed Lamine Yamal for the Ballon d'Or, calling him "incredible, especially for his age," while also praising Harry Kane's form at Bayern Munich and Michael Olise's impact, suggesting Olise might have been an even stronger Ballon d'Or candidate had he scored in the World Cup.