Earlier this week, it was reported that Robert Lewandowski is yet to be approached by Bayern Munich to begin talks for a contract renewal. This contradicted what had been previously reported, as it was understood Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer, and Thomas Muller were all expected to sign new deals relatively soon since all their current contracts expire next summer.
Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has come under fire for his handling of the Lewandowski situation by Lothar Matthäus. It’s important to remember that prior to Bayern’s 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt kicking off Brazzo made it clear the Bayern has every intention of wanting Lewandowski to stay, but when the striker himself was asked post-match about what Brazzo had said pre-kick off, he said that this was the first he’s heard of anything. Clearly, there’s some sort of disconnect between Lewandowski and Bayern’s front office, for which Matthäus places a lot of the blame on Brazzo for.
“Internal communication seems to be just as unfortunate with Lewandowski as with Süle. I would have liked Hasan to make a much clearer and clearer statement towards Lewandowski,” Matthäus recently wrote in his column for Sky Sports (via Abendzeitung). “It’s more important that Lewandowski gets a clear statement internally. But that doesn’t seem to be the case either,” he continued. To be fair to Salihamidzic, there are a lot of moving parts to Lewandowski’s contract situation and it doesn’t help at all that Bayern’s sporting director doesn’t exactly have the greatest relationship with Pini Zahavi, Lewandowski’s agent, who has shopped him around to other clubs before.
There’s mounting pressure for Bayern to get the Lewandowski situation sorted especially after losing Niklas Sule on a free transfer to rivals Borussia Dortmund this summer just a year after losing David Alaba, Jerome Boateng, and Javi Martinez. It’s been increasingly difficult for Oliver Kahn, Herbert Hainer, and Salihamidzic to navigate their way through contract renewals at the club in the wake of the financial losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but that doesn’t lessen the pressure that’s placed on them to tie Lewandowski down to a new deal. Alongside Neuer and Muller, he is, without question, the most important player in Bayern’s squad.
Matthäus also wrote that he feels Bayern should be handling constant questions from the press in a different manner. He feels that there’s not enough directness in what’s being said to reporters and journalists, giving them more opportunities to pick and prod. He knows that former club president Uli Hoeness would be handling the press in a far different manner. “I dare say that Uli Hoeneß would have at least literally devoured the reporter when asked about Lewandowski’s future. Hoeneß would have acted according to the motto in such an interview: facts instead of empty phrases,” he said.
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