Kahn dismisses Lewandowski rumours: “He’s staying at Bayern”

Robert Lewandowski will see out the final year of his contract with Bayern Munich, says club CEO Oliver Kahn, contrary to media reports placing the Polish striker at Camp Nou. Barcelona have been linked with the 33-year-old and according to Polish TV channel TVP Sport, the Catalans have an agreement in place with the player. The goals continue to flow for the Poland international, who was on target in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter final return leg against Villarreal. That strike took his season’s tally to 47 - 32 of them in the Bundesliga and 13 in the Champion League. He is the current top scorer in tournament and became the third player to reach 30 goals in the knockout stages after Cristiano Ronaldo (67) and Lionel Messi (49).

Lewandowski is under contract until June 2023 by which time he will be almost 35. Kahn was adamant that the player is going nowhere. “Apparently, there’s a competition out there to see who writes the biggest nonsense story about Robert Lewandowski...” Kahn told Amazon Prime Video. “It is very important to mention that we have a contract that is valid for another season. If there’s anything to report, then we’ll do it, too. We are not crazy. This is a player who scores between 30 and 40 goals every season.”

Bayern’s disappointment

Lewandowski’s goal against Villarreal wasn’t enough to stop Bayern’s exit from the competition. Bayern won their sixth European crown in 2020, defeating PSG in the final in Lisbon. But this the second year running that they have bowed out at the quarter final stage. “It’s always disappointing when you concede a late goal,” Khan added. “We could have made it 2-0 before they scored their second. You can’t blame the team - they gave everything and tried everything in the second half. Villarreal are a tough team to play, you need a lot of patience to break down their defence. My only criticism is that we didn’t take advantage of the chances we had. It just wasn’t meant to be, it’s one of those things and we’re not going to cry about it”.

With Bayern commanding a nine-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with seven games remaining, Kahn feels confident that the team can retain the title and have another crack at the Champions League next season. There is also the chance of making history. “We have a great opportunity to become league champions for the 10th time in a row. No club has ever done that in Europe. We are nine points clear of Borussia Dortmund. That’s what we’ll focus on from now,” he concluded.