Bayern Munich: Pini Zahavi demands release from Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski FC Bayern 2022
©Getty Images
A war of roses develops between Bayern and Robert Lewandowski’s advisor. Pini Zahavi’s latest statements contain a lot of explosives.
Advisor Pini Zahavi has pithy words demanding the release of his client Robert Lewandowski from FC Bayern Munich. The 34-year-old Polish striker is still under contract in Munich until 2023, but wants to switch to FC Barcelona.
“Of course you can keep Robert for another year, to be fair he has a contract until 2023, but I wouldn’t recommend that to you. For Robert Lewandowski, FC Bayern is history,” said Zahavi picture. Most recently, sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, CEO Oliver Kahn and President Herbert Hainer ruled out a farewell to the striker.
“The fact is: Robert wants to leave FC Bayern after eight years together in which he gave the club everything,” said Zahavi. “Now, at almost 34, he has the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream and move to the club he always dreamed of. Why is Bayern denying him this opportunity?”
At the same time, Zahavi emphasized that “no one cares about the money here, neither Robert nor me. He hasn’t felt respected by those responsible for months, that’s the truth. FC Bayern hasn’t lost the player Lewandowski, but the person Robert.”
Robert Lewandowski annoyed Bayern’s interest in Haaland
The agent confirmed that Lewandowski angered Bayern Munich’s alleged interest in Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland: “Robert is a very intelligent person, not just the best striker in the world. He knows exactly what’s going on around him and what the FC Bayern had planned. So Robert knew all along that Bayern wanted to replace him with Haaland. Erling’s father even confirmed it to him, telling him in a personal conversation some time ago: ‘My son comes to FC Bayern for 50 percent .’ The football world is big, but there are no secrets.” The 21-year-old Norwegian ultimately moved to Manchester City.
Zahavi also underscored Lewandowski’s claim that, contrary to what Bayern officials around Salihamidzic said, he had not received an official offer to extend his contract. Instead, Zahavi told “an anecdote from last year”.
At that time, a meeting with Kahn, Salihamidzic and Technical Director Marco Neppe would have taken place. “I said to them, ‘What do you think about extending Robert’s contract?’ The answer: Silence. No yes, no no, no maybe, just nothing. So towards the end of the meeting I said, ‘If that’s the case, sell it next summer.’ The answer: ‘We don’t really want to sell him, but if you bring us an offer for 120 million euros, then we can talk.’ So roughly the amount that a Haaland commitment would have cost in the summer, including all fees.”