Herbert Hainer says there’s “enough time” left to sort out Robert Lewandowski’s contract

The pressure at Bayern Munich to get Robert Lewandowski to sign a contract extension is mounting heavily. The club’s front office, in particular, has faced external criticism for having not started discussions with the Polish striker yet, but they are adamant that they are completely relaxed with the situation at hand. Oliver Kahn had even recently fired back at Lothar Matthaus’s criticism to where the latter had called it “disrespectful” that the club has yet to initiate contact to Lewandowski or his agent to start negotiations for a new deal.

Much like Kahn, club president Herbert Hainer is remaining pretty relaxed over Lewandowski’s situation and doesn’t see any need to rush into contract talks prematurely. Both Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller are also expected to sign contract extensions at some point in the near future, but speaking to kicker, Hainer insisted there’s still “enough time” left to get new deals sorted. “We approach the talks with them in a very relaxed manner. There is still enough time and our players know that. Now our entire focus is on our major sporting goals,” he said (via Tz).

Of the three, Lewandowski’s contract is causing the most concern from the outside looking in. Hainer himself had said that he would be beyond thrilled if Lewandowski were to finish his career in Munich, whether that’s completely unrealistic or not. Even though talks have yet to begin for a potential new deal at Bayern, Hainer said that the striker knows “that we all appreciate him here at Bayern beyond measure” and that “the same applies to Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller.”

Interestingly enough, part of Niklas Sule’s decision for wanting to leave Bayern for rivals Borussia Dortmund this summer had to do with feeling underappreciated at Bayern, which is certainly cause for concern when it comes to Lewandowski. Losing David Alaba, Jerome Boateng, Javi Martinez, and Sule within the span of just two seasons has not been the best of looks for Bayern, which adds extra pressure on the front office to do everything they can, within reason, to get Lewandowski to stay and sign a new deal.

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