Sky: Robert Lewandowski wants to leave Bayern Munich soon (Update: It won’t be this season)

Update: 11:30AM EST

While not many outlets are disputing the news that Robert Lewandowski wants to eventually leave Bayern Munich, the timing is being hotly debated. Per Goal, Lewandowski will at least be with the club through the end of this season:

Reports suggested the Polish striker wished to leave Germany in the transfer window, however any deal will not happen until summer 2022 at earliest. Robert Lewandowski is not for sale and will not leave Bayern Munich this summer, Goal can confirm.

The veteran striker has been linked with a move away from the Bundesliga champions this summer, and recent reports suggested that he has asked to leave and that Bayern had set a £110 million ($150m) price tag on his head. However, Goal can reveal that Bayern are in fact not considering a sale under any circumstances, and that Lewandowski accepts this position and will not push for a transfer.

—C.Smith

According to a report from Sky Sports, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski is looking to move away from the Allianz Arena within the next two years.

The report states that while Lewandowski is happy at Bayern, he wants to face a new challenge as his career winds down. The soon to be 33-year-old Polish international reportedly wants to move from the club by age 35 — giving Bayern only about three to four transfer windows to pull this move off.

The move is virtually impossible to pull off this summer window however. Bayern currently value Lewandowski at about £100 million and would not be keen on selling the top scorer in Europe without having a thought out successor in the works.

Lewandowski is on a contract that expires in 2023 — just around the time when he’d be looking to move on from the club. Bayern have not offered a contract to him yet, and reports from Lewandowski’s camp claim the striker is frustrated by the club’s lack of desire to sell him or sign him. However, the report adds that he would not do anything that would put him out of the club’s good graces.

This last season has been one of Lewandowski’s best in his career — bagging 56 goals for club and country and breaking the Bundesliga single season goal scoring record previously held by the now late Gerd Muller.

So far this season, Lewandowski has bagged three goals in two games — one in league play and two in Bayern’s 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup.

Considering the current striker’s production, there are only a few clubs that would be able to take on his salary. Given the timeline is only two years out, the situation at all of these clubs could change. However, we can still try and predict these things.

In regards to an England move, the clubs that can stand out and could afford him would be along the lines of Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea. One could assume that Chelsea would be eliminated given they just signed Romelu Lukaku to a massive contract — however, the club has been known to turn over players quickly. Manchester United is on the list due to their constantly massive transfer budget, but it’s unknown whether or not the player would have any ties to the club.

Meanwhile for the other two teams — Liverpool and Manchester City — the possibility of a reunion is on the cards. At Liverpool — assuming the team now is the team then — he could be reunited with former Bayern teammate Thiago Alcantara and of course, his old Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp. At City, one would think Pep Guardiola would love to welcome his old talisman back into the fold.

Elsewhere around the world, other destinations to be considered include Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona — if they can figure out their finances — as well as Italian club Juventus and French club Paris Saint-Germain.

But all of this hinges on players moving in and out of all of those clubs in the coming years. With rumors flying about all of these clubs seeking the signatures of strikers like Lautaro Martinez, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland, it’s unclear to fully flesh out a thesis as to where the Polish attacker will go.