Dietmar Hamann worried about Robert Lewandowski’s age amid contract talks with Bayern Munich

At this current juncture, it still remains unclear what the future holds for Robert Lewandowski and whether it will be with Bayern Munich, or another club. Reports broke earlier this week suggesting that FC Barcelona was close to agreeing on a deal to sign Bayern’s number 9, but they all proved to be speculative at best. Prior to those rumors circulating, it had come out that Lewandowski was peeved at the fact that Bayern’s front office had not yet initiated discussions to negotiate a contract extension despite their affirmation that they definitely wanted to keep hold of the Polish ace.

Recently speaking to Goal, former Bayern and Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann weighed in on Lewandowski’s contract situation in Munich. For him, it all comes down to just how many years Bayern would be willing to extend Lewandowski’s contract by. At 33 years of age, Lewandowski shows absolutely no signs of slowing down, but age is a concern for Hamann.

The player turned pundit is worried that Bayern could potentially be dealing with a waning Lewandowski if they were to go ahead and offer him an extension for more than two years, citing Cristiano Ronaldo’s patchy return to Manchester United as an example of what’s to be concerned about. “There is no reason not to extend with (Manuel) Neuer or (Thomas) Muller. With Lewandowski you have to see whether he wants more than two years. Then of course you have to think about it. At the end of the contract he would be nearly 37. You can see with Ronaldo that it gets more difficult with age,” he explained.

With the bigger picture in play, it hasn’t made Hasan Salihamidzic, Oliver Kahn, or Herbert Hainer’s jobs an easier with the fact that so many players on Bayern’s squad were, or still are, up for a contract extension. Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, and Kingsley Coman have all already signed new deals and Neuer and Muller are expected to soon follow suit. For Serge Gnabry and Lewandowski, both situations remain open at this point.

“With Muller and Neuer I say, yes, extend them. But of course they can’t earn more. You have to make sure that the contracts are made even more performance-related,” Hamann rationalized with the financial situation at Bayern. “If you have five to six players who earn 20 million euros, you have to claim that you get to the semi-finals in the Champions League. Of course you can be eliminated, but it’s always about the process,” he added.