Barcelona to offer Bayern Munich €35m for Lewandowski
According to reports, the Camp Nou board have given up on Haaland and Salah and will turn their attention to the Bayern Munich striker.
A few weeks ago Barcelona president Joan Laporta hinted during one of his habitual off-the-record chats with the press that the Camp Nou board were perfectly capable, financially speaking, of signing a star player this summer and that they were in discussions to do so. At that time, Barça’s wish list consisted of Erling Haaland, Mo Salah and Robert Lewandowski, in that order. According to various sources, Barça have now given up hope of luring either the Norwegian or the Egyptian to Camp Nou this summer and as such have turned their attention to the Bayern Munich striker as their priority target ahead of the 2022-23 season.
Lewandowski open to Barcelona move
Lewandowski has previously intimated he would be open to a move to Barça as he seeks a final hurrah in a different league after spending the vast majority of his career in the Bundesliga. The Poland captain is out of contract at the Allianz Arena in 2023 and there has been speculation that he and Bayern may decide to part company this summer, when the Bundesliga champions can still command a fee. There is also the possibility that Bayern are playing their cards close to their chest regarding the chase for Haaland and could be considering a move for the Norway striker this summer.
According to journalist Gerard Romero, Barcelona’s Sporting director Mateu Alemany recently hosted Lewandowski’s agent Pini Zahavi at a lunch and laid out how far the Camp Nou board are willing to go to secure the services of the prolific Pole, who will be 34 in August. Romero said that figure is €35m, and Alemany asked Zahavi to pass the information on to Bayern’s hierarchy. The length of any contract remains an issue: Lewandowski is looking for a three-year guarantee at least – one of the main reasons for his stand-off with Bayern - while Barça are prepared to offer a two-year contract with a performance-based optional third year added on.
Ball in Bayern’s court regarding Lewandowski move
Zahavi will now take Barça’s offer to Bayern and see where the Bavarian giants stand. The Bundesliga side will have to decide whether to cash in on Lewandowski now, having parted with €50m to bring him in from Borussia Dortmund in 2014, or let him leave for nothing next summer when his contract expires, as they did with David Alaba (who is also represented by Zahavi) last season when the Austrian defender moved to Real Madrid on a free.
Earlier this month, Polish broadcaster TV Sport reported that Lewandowski had reached an agreement in principle with Barça on a three-year contract. That seems to have spurred Barça into action but whether or not Bayern decide to sell this summer remains to be seen.