analysis
Offer from FC Barcelona
Rumors of Lewandowski’s departure are causing unrest at Bayern Munich – Salihamidzic must now deliver
Bayern Munich sports director Hasan Salihamidzic
© Friso Gentsch / DPA
Does he go or does he stay? The prospects of a contract extension for Robert Lewandowski have apparently fallen. There is much to suggest that the attacker will leave Bayern Munich in the summer. That would be a disaster for sports director Hasan Salihamidzic.
It is not yet clear whether the world’s top scorer will leave FC Bayern after eight years at the end of the season. The only thing that is certain is that the royal personality for sports director Hasan Salihamidzic will be a real challenge. If the world footballer of the year actually leaves the record champions, it would be a turning point. It would finally mark the end of what is believed to be Bayern’s most successful era. And Salihamidzic would have to provide an adequate replacement, which could be difficult.
In the club, they keep a low profile. “He trained very hard and scored a few good goals,” said coach Julian Nagelsmann at the press conference before the last game against VfL Wolfsburg. He didn’t want to reveal more, except that he once again explained his “credo”: “I will never speak out publicly for or against anything, that it should then be law. I’m not important enough for that, and it should stay that way in the future .” Nagelsmann also said that he would of course exchange ideas with Lewandowski and that he knew his “thoughts”.
Rumors about Lewandowski cause unrest
Salihamidzic and most recently President Herbert Hainer ruled out a change this summer, but that doesn’t have to mean anything. Since it was leaked that Lewandowski did not want to extend his contract, which expired in 2023, things have been much more restless on Säbener Straße. The squabbling over the contract extensions of Thomas Müller and Manuel Neuer had already provided secondary theaters of war for weeks.
The starting point for Lewandowski is clear: either he will be free in a year or Bayern will try to sell him profitably this summer. FC Barcelona are said to have offered the World Player of the Year a three-year contract. Lewandowski informed Bayern that he would like to accept the offer, it said. There is no other solution in sight. In Munich, the 34-year-old would only have the prospect of a one-year extension, like Thomas Müller. That is Lewandowski but not enough. With a fee of 30 or 40 million euros, he would probably be gone.
A superstar’s departure would shake the club. The (soon to be) top scorer seven times was the face of Bayern even more than Neuer or Müller. The Pole stood and still stands for the world-class trademark. Salihamidzic would have to find a suitable successor, but that might be difficult. The Bavarians are also feeling the consequences of two years of corona pandemic. The transfer of Erling Haaland to Manchester City made it clear that Munich cannot and do not want to keep up financially with such deals (CEO Oliver Kahn: “(… outside of our imaginations”).
Robert Lewandowski is said to have been upset
The thing with Haaland not only made the financial balance of power in European football clear once again, but is also said to have annoyed Lewandowski. Munich’s interest in the Norwegian showed that Bayern had long thought of replacing Lewandowski. Bayern are rumored to be interested in Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen), Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea FC) and Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig).
Finding a similarly talented and ambitious attacker will be the test for Salihamidzic, because he is not unchallenged in Munich. Ever since he started working as sports director in 2017, he has been criticized. At first he was only perceived as a clumsy apprentice by Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, then he was blamed for allowing Niklas Süle (Borussia Dortmund), David Alaba (Real Madrid) and Jerome Boateng (Olympique Lyon) to leave — all free transfers.
In particular, the departure of defense chief Alaba, who was one of the pillars of the triple win under coach Hansi Flick, had a negative sporting effect. But the same applied to Alaba: FC Bayern does not exceed certain financial limits if that is not in the interests of the club. Hoeneß’s mob attack against Alaba and his advisers on the show “Doppelpass”, which many still have unpleasant memories of, showed how serious Bayern are about it.
The maxim for action also applies to Salihamidzic. As important as Lewandowski is: FC Bayern dictates the conditions, not the professional. Triple trainer Hansi Flick also felt this. He publicly called for reinforcements and left the club after falling out with Salihamidzic and only getting right-back Alvaro Odriozola for 20 million in January 2020.
Sources: DPA, “Southgerman newspaper“, “table football“, “t-online”,”spox“, “sports1“, “picture“