A royal transfer is worrying

Robert Lewandowski has already shown a few times that he can help out diligently when Bayern's defense does a few swimming exercises. He always put himself at the service of the team, even if the distances involved were longer than is normal for a center forward. He still had enough energy afterwards to become the Bundesliga's top scorer five times in a row. When loyalty to contracts is almost a dirty word Of course, you have to be careful these days with any wording regarding Lewandowski and FC Bayern. “His” Bavaria is probably no longer really affected, as Poland is said to have increased desire to emigrate. He wants to have another new experience. That's what it's called when a beautiful piece after your 30th birthday avoids the fear that the pension might not be enough in the end. So Lewandowski is trying to make big money again. That is probably the irrefutable truth and given the big million-dollar game in football, no one needs to point the finger at Lewandowski. He is simply within the usual framework, in which, of course, contractual compliance is almost a dirty word. If you're smart, you'll switch before the allotted time is up. The clubs that howl in response only shed crocodile tears. Basically, you always take the invalidity of the signature into account. Ultimately, the subsequent transfer fee brings a lot of money into the till.

This has now been felt again at Bayern, because the new center forward Sadio Mané from Senegal still had a binding contract with Liverpool until 2023. To free him from this bracket, the Munich team will pay 32 million euros plus possible Bonus payments of around 9 million euros that would be due at some point. Or not. If Mané doesn't score, for example. Or not as often as Lewandowski, who was a goal machine. Bayern's new attack tank is still a bargain when you consider that the French defender Lucas Hernandez, who has never really impressed until now, once cost 80 million euros to transfer from Atlético Madrid.

Robert Lewandowski's future is completely open. © ANSA / FRIEDEMANN VOGEL

That was three years ago. At that time, the then sports director and current sports director Hasan Salihamidzic wanted to prove that he could really spend money. Now good advice is also expensive at FC Bayern Munich, because “Lewi”, as the fans affectionately call him, is still in the Bavarian capital. And who knows, maybe even until Oktoberfest at the end of September or even next year, because FC Barcelona, to which the Pole would like to move, is struggling with a serious financial crisis, even if its members recently even voted in favor of parts of the silverware Selling off (mostly real estate) in order to be able to finance Lewandowski. The sum that was spent on Mané could flow back into the Munich account. What happens to Sané and Gnabry? But nothing is settled yet and if the Spaniards run out of steam, then Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann will be faced with a tricky situation. The key question would then be where to take both strikers, given that Thomas Müller is still there. Will Leroy Sané become a pawn or even the highly talented Serge Gnabry become a benchwarmer? Because one thing is clear as day: If FC Bayern signs one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe, then it will automatically be accompanied by a message to the coach that he must then present this gem on a regular basis. After all, the millions have to shine. But if things go completely crazy, then Lewandowski, who recently consciously turned away from FC Bayern, suddenly finds himself on the bench. His market value would fall from minute to minute if, as hoped, Mané hits the goal as often as he has in recent years.

If Lewandowski has to stay for a variety of reasons, he would be a cheap alternative for many clubs next year. However, FC Bayern would then come away empty-handed financially, which would not be a commercially clever approach given the many transfers that have already been made recently (midfield and defense with at least younger players). On the other hand, if the Pole stayed, the Munich team would of course have an unbeatable option up front. Two bangers, two snappers, two world-class strikers. The competition's knees are already shaking. As always, everything is a little more exciting than the Munich competition, which also tries to draw attention to itself with interesting transfers. No team has managed to do this yet. FC Bayern have already won this match again with the signing of Sadio Mané, right in the middle of the football-less period.

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1. Bayer Leverkusen	31	77:22	81
2. Bayern Munich	31	89:38	69
3. VfB Stuttgart	31	70:38	64
4. RB Leipzig	31	73:35	62
5. Bor. Dortmund	31	59:39	57
6. Eintracht Frankfurt	31	47:42	45
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1. FC St Pauli	31	57:33	63
2. Holstein Kiel	31	61:37	61
3. Fortuna Dusseldorf	31	65:36	56
4. Hamburger SV	31	59:42	52
5. Karlsruhe SC	31	62:45	49
6. Hannover 96	31	53:39	46
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A royal transfer is worrying

Sadio Mané, Liverpool FC's world-class striker, is already at Bayern Munich, but Robert Lewandowski is still there. Our columnist Sigi Heinrich sees major problems facing Poles in particular.

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