Robert Lewandowski positions himself publicly against FC Bayern and forces his departure from Munich. That not only puts the German record champions under pressure, but also the striker himself. Is there a solution?
The menu features potato carpaccio with truffles, pasta made from a parmesan loaf and prawns with salsa verde. Munich’s new in-Italian has established itself between the Viktualienmarkt and the Isartor. Oliver Kahn, CEO of FC Bayern, and his sports director, Hasan Salihamidzic, recently sat there together. They should have consulted intensively. About Robert Lewandowski?
“Amore senza fine” is the motto of the Italian, in English: endless love. The relationship between Bayern and their Polish super striker, on the other hand, is apparently coming to an end. He let his employer know from the Polish national team’s training camp that he no longer wanted to work with the German record champions.
Bavaria is history
“One thing is certain today: my time at Bayern is history. After everything that has happened in the last few months, I can no longer imagine working together,” said the 33-year-old: “I realized that a change was the best thing for both sides. Bayern won’t stop me just because they can.” boom!
It’s rumbling on Säbener Strasse, the power center of the Bundesliga giants. Salihamidzic in particular is under a lot of pressure. Not only, but especially because of the Lewandowski case. It’s mixed for the 45-year-old Bosnian on the transfer market. It almost went unnoticed that Bayern let Corentin Tolisso go. After David Alaba (Real Madrid) and Niklas Süle (BVB) the third star free of charge. Salihamidzic did not sign the French in July 2017. But the later sporting boss didn’t sell the Frenchman in five years, even though the midfielder was constantly injured and never a difference player.
As a reminder, in 2017 Tolisso was the record transfer for a reported transfer fee of 41.5 million euros. Since then, a lot has gone wrong under department head Salihamidzic. Remember the mega rental fee (!) of 8.5 million euros for Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian didn’t live up to expectations. Or: Fiete Arp recently returned after a loan from Holstein Kiel, according to media reports he should collect five million euros a year. In three years at Bayern, the 22-year-old striker only has 13 minutes in the DFB Cup against Düren.
80 million man Lucas Hernández, Salihamidzic’s supposed king transfer, is considered a weak point in an explosive switching game. The total failures Bouna Sarr and Marc Roca are to be sold again. Together they cost 17 million euros transfer fee. It is money that Bayern lacks everywhere after the Corona crisis. Especially for the Lewandowski poker, while FC Barcelona is tempting with a longer contract period.
President Herbert Hainer and club patron Uli Hoeneß put the loss of sales due to the pandemic at 150 million euros. The fact that the club says it has 209 million euros in the fixed deposit account, but no more, worsens the starting position in the campaign for Lewandowski to stay.
He just wants to leave
According to information from t-online, the Pole really wants to go to Spain. His shrewd agent Pini Zahavi is pushing, reiterating that the attacker will not renew his contract, which expires in 2023. It is said that a fee of 30 to 40 million euros is still possible this summer. In the absence of transfer proceeds beforehand, it would be a sum that FC Bayern would need to sign a successor.
The result is a highly tricky mixture. According to reports, Hernández’s commitment messed up the salary structure in the squad. Serge Gnabry is also currently playing poker. On top of that. At first, Süle’s advisor complained of a lack of appreciation. “It’s the issue with Niklas that he doesn’t feel valued enough. It’s not just about the money for him,” said Volker Struth in “Doppelpass” from Sport1: “If Bayern had approached him, we would have had a different situation . That didn’t happen.”
Now Lewandowski, who was the guarantor of the title for the last eight years with 344 goals in 374 competitive games, complained publicly. Boss Kahn demonstratively protected co-boss Salihamidzic in the “double pass”: “Show me any sports director in the world where everything always works.”
Salihamidzic, who is negotiating with Liverpool’s Sadio Mané, and Kahn are already in bad shape. Player agent Zahavi accused them: “Bayern lost the man Robert.” The Munich bosses will again consult intensively. They can no longer prevent Lewandowski wanting to leave at any price.
