The relationship between Robert Lewandowski and FC Bayern is threatened with an inglorious end. After eight seasons on the Isar, 19 titles and 343 goals, the Pole apparently wants to turn his back on Munich.
The 33-year-old is upset because the efforts of those responsible for the club to prematurely extend his working paper, which runs until 2023, were probably not too intensive.
While Joshua Kimmich (May 2021), Leon Goretzka (September 2021), Kingsley Coman (January 2022) and Thomas Müller (May 2022) all received new contracts, Lewandowski had to be patient.
But the striker’s patience now seems to have broken – and somehow you can understand his frustration.
After all, we are talking about a player who has been named FIFA World Player twice, played a key role in FC Bayern’s long-term success in the Bundesliga and the treble season in 2020 and is THE exceptional player and consequently THE figurehead of the club, especially in an international context.
It is totally understandable that Bayern have concerns about a long-term contract extension for a soon to be 34-year-old. Who knows whether Lewandowski will still let his opponents run into space with a hip twist in two years’ time and be physically fit and agile.
But couldn’t the club bosses have prevented the contract farce about the serial shooter and couldn’t have solved the matter more elegantly? No, stop! Wasn’t it even her duty?
Why didn’t Hasan Salihamidzic and Oliver Kahn approach Lewandowski early in the season and offer him a one-year extension until 2024 with a performance-related option for a further year until 2025?
So Lewandowski would have sensed the will of the club and Bayern would have made their position clear early on that they did not want to offer a four or five-year contract with a gigantic salary.
If this offer had met with Lewandowski’s reluctance, the club would never have had to be accused of denying the striker appreciation. In addition, the Bundesliga record scorer could have been given a dignified farewell to the club and the fans within one season – and the market could have been explored months earlier for potential alternatives.
But the club apparently wanted to play poker – and now everyone involved is threatening to emerge from the dispute as losers.
Lewandowski because he would leave a team in which he has played a leading role for years, which is tailored to him and in which he grew to become the world footballer. In addition, his two daughters were born during his time as a Bayern player. Lewandowski is likely to see Munich as his second home. The Pole would have to give up this in the event of a departure.
But it would be worse for Bayern. Not only would the club lose a world-class striker who has scored 109 goals in the last three Bundesliga seasons alone, but they would also be under a lot of pressure to find a successor.
While the international competition has already completed their search for a striker (Manchester City, Erling Haaland) or intensified (Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappé), the Munich team are left empty-handed for the time being. The fact that transfer planning for the 2022/23 season is already in full swing doesn’t make things any easier for the Bayern bosses.
One would have wished for an end to the Lewandowski era in Munich, when the then 37-year-old stood in front of the fans in the Allianz Arena with a bouquet in his hand and tears in his eyes and said goodbye. However, it will probably not come to that. This is primarily due to the Bayern bosses, who apparently did not see the evil coming.
VfL Wolfsburg vs Bayern Munich
05/14/2022 | 3:30 p.m
