Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: “Robert Lewandowski is not for sale”

Per kicker, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has stated the he believes Robert Lewandowski will “100 percent be staying at Bayern Munich.” The affirmation comes after the Poland international has been heavily linked with a summer move to Spanish giants Real Madrid, especially after firing his agent of 10 years, Cezary Kucharski, and proceeding to hire Pini Zahavi. Lewandowski had also caused a minor strife with Bayern’s front office after making numerous requests for the club to spend more money on top transfer targets, criticizing the club’s unwillingness to splash the cash.

Despite all of this, Rummenigge is confident Lewandowski is going nowhere:

[Lewandowski’s] an extremely important element of our team and perhaps the best number nine in Europe. I would readily take the bet that Robert will 100 per cent be playing for Bayern next season.

Lewandowski is currently under contract with Bayern until the summer of 2021, and both Rummenigge and club president Uli Hoeness stand firm in their beliefs that players are responsible for honoring the contracts they’ve signed. Hoeness, in particular, was highly critical of the way Borussia Dortmund handled the transfer sagas of Ousmane Dembélé to Barcelona and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal. Both players, by rather exaggerated means, forced through their transfers to their new, respective clubs, something Hoeness denies would ever happen at Bayern Munich.

Rummenigge also compared Lewandowski’s situation to Chelsea’s heavy interest in Franck Ribery in 2008, when the Premier League club was prepared to pay big money to acquire the Frenchman. Keeping hold of Ribery despite the massive offers, Rummenigge states, sent a message to the rest of the clubs across Europe that Bayern are not a selling club:

From that day on the whole football world knew: no one can buy a player from Bayern Munich against the wish of Bayern Munich. It’s the same [situation as Lewandowski].