“
One thing is certain today: my story with Bayern has come to an end.
It is with this clear and unequivocal sentence that Robert Lewandowski expressed his wishes for his future.
The Munich striker, who will turn 34 next August, will be out of contract in June 2023. His season with 50 goals in 46 matches defies the laws of physics: the Pole is anything but on the decline, he who has finished behind the winner Lionel Messi at the Ballon d'Or 2021. His case will be one of the most scrutinized on the summer transfer window which will open its doors on June 10.
We go around the possible points of fall of Lewandowski.
Bayern don't want to know anything
A departure ?
What start?
“
Robert Lewandowski has a contract with Bayern until June 2023 and he will fulfill it
”, hammered the Bavarian president, Herbert Hainer, in mid-May.
Then there were the words of Lewandowski.
"
I don't know why Robert decided to take this path, such statements in public do not advance anyone
", annoyed the former goalkeeper converted manager Oliver Kahn, at the microphone of the
Sport1
channel .
Bayern don't want to lose such an important player, and above all they hate the idea of a player bigger than the club.
The standoff initiated by Lewandowski goes badly.
SEE ALSO –
Lewandowski's best goals with Bayern in the Bundesiga
The German club is divided.
He wants to keep it because he is one of the best footballers in the world, and also to show that it is not the player who decides.
But he also wants to sell him so he doesn't lose him "for free" in a year, and because keeping a player against his will is rarely a good idea.
The Mbappé case at PSG serves as an exception.
That of Ousmane Dembélé, sidelined in the middle of the Barça season, is more common.
The trend seems to be towards a transfer.
The rumor of the arrival of Sadio Mané, star striker of Liverpool, is part of this idea.
It is not at all the same profile, but the Senegalese would partially fill a goal deficit inherent in the departure of Lewandowski.
Nevertheless, seeing him stay in Bavaria remains the second most credible option.
Barça holds the rope, but...
This is what we are heading towards a week before the opening of the transfer window: Robert Lewandowski figurehead of FC Barcelona by Xavi.
The Pole is the
Catalan coach 's '
big wish ', according to newspaper
Mundo Deportivo
, and it seems mutual.
If "Lewy" wants to leave Bayern, it's because he believes he has been around there, where he has won all the trophies possible since his arrival in 2014.
Xavi among FC Barcelona players on May 22, 2022. Action Plus / Panoramic
Barca were rocked by the departure of Lionel Messi last summer, but they raised their heads under Xavi to finish runners-up to Real Madrid in La Liga.
The daily
Sport
evokes an upcoming offer from Barça between 30 and 40 M€.
The German press understands that Bayern will not listen to anything below 50 M€.
The start of the negotiations seems imminent, whether Bayern like it or not.
Real in the submarine?
And if Barça was overtaken by its great rival?
Real Madrid seemed to be chasing a weighty reinforcement in attack for the coming summer, with Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland leading the way.
The first extended to PSG, the second chose Manchester City.
Last February, the Madrid daily
AS
spoke of Lewandowski as an “
alternative
”.
Last week, Spanish radio
Cadena SER
assured that the Pole's entourage had surveyed Real.
Sincere phone call or pressure lever for Barça to take out the checkbook?
Read alsoMbappé at PSG, Haaland at City: symbol of a changing football geopolitics
Real have always liked to hit hard on the transfer window, but the Lewandowski file does not seem destined for them.
First, there is the 30-year-old policy: with the exception of the Cristiano Ronaldo type, Real never offers its thirty-something players to extend their contract for more than one season.
The recruitment of Lewandowski, soon to be 34, would seem paradoxical.
Then, he would risk stepping on the toes of Karim Benzema (34), favorite for the Ballon d'Or 2022. The sporting logic is not obvious.
Lewandowski in the merengue jersey, it is very unlikely.
PSG don't think about it anymore
Robert Lewandowski at Paris Saint-Germain, we were already talking about it in January 2016. "
It's flattering that the leaders of PSG are thinking of me, but I'm focused on my work here at Bayern Munich
," replied the Pole at the microphone. from
TF1
.
Last summer,
L'Équipe
revealed that PSG had an eye on the Bavarian, especially in the event of Kylian Mbappé's departure.
In the end, the Bondy prodigy stayed... and saw Lionel Messi land, to form a dream trio with Neymar.
From now on, the places on the front of the Parisian attack are extremely expensive.
SEE ALSO –
Mbappé on his extension to PSG: “My story is not over here”
Mbappé having extended in Paris, the Lewandowski rumor has definitely died out.
Two weeks ago, the well-informed journalist Fabrizio Romano (
Sky Sports
,
The Guardian
...) revealed that Barça was "
the priority
" of the Pole, despite the interests of PSG and Chelsea.
Since then, no English media has rekindled the flame of a "Lewy" in the Blues, where Romelu Lukaku would be inclined to leave.
Everything suggests that Barça, with a little conviction and nice tickets, will end up welcoming the second of the Ballon d'Or 2021.