Lothar Matthäus can imagine Robert Lewandowski leaving Bayern Munich for FC Barcelona

Robert Lewandowski’s future at Bayern Munich still hangs in the balance. The club has insisted that contract negotiation discussions will soon take place, but they race against time since his current contract is set to expire next summer. He has been heavily linked with a move to FC Barcelona to join a revitalized Catalan side since Xavi has taken over as manager. Whether it means anything, whatsoever, or not, Lewandowski’s wife, Anna, had also mentioned on her social media pages that she’s been learning Spanish, which some Bayern fans have taken as a sign that they’re both planning on moving to Spain at some point in the near future.

Nothing is concrete yet for Lewandowski. He could sign a two-to-three year extension at Bayern, or perhaps even more or less, or he could ultimately decide that now is as good of a time as ever to start a new challenge in Spain. On a recent appearance on Sky Germany, Lothar Matthäus said that he hopes Lewandowski signs an extension, sharing the sentiment that most Bayern fans have, but also said that he could imagine him leaving for Barcelona to finally take on a new challenge.

“I still don’t want to imagine Robert Lewandowski wearing a different shirt, but that wouldn’t surprise me too much. If Barcelona offer him the three years he wants and the clubs agree on a fee that satisfies FC Bayern, then I could understand all parties,” Matthäus explained (via @iMiaSanMia on Twitter).

Barcelona have already signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Arsenal FC and Sergio Aguero had to unfortunately end his career prematurely due to a heart condition, but Xavi still wants to sign another outright striker.

For Xavi, Lewandowski fits the billing perfectly despite his age. “Xavi wants a striker as soon as possible. Bayern could possibly use a big transfer fee and in the end, Robert would fulfill his wish of playing in Spain and enjoy another nice life experience,” Matthäus said. “Barcelona may not be above Bayern, but playing in front of 100,000 spectators and experiencing yet another big club might also be an understandable target,” he continued, rationalizing Lewandowski’s potential desire to play for one of Spain’s biggest clubs.

Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Despite being on course to secure a historic 10th Bundesliga title in a row, Julian Nagelsmann’s first season in charge of Bayern was disappointing, mainly because of the early DFB-Pokal exit and losing to Villarreal in the Champions League. The negative mood that underlines the season could be something that persuades Lewandowski to leave this summer, but much like the majority of Bayern’s fan base, Matthäus is still hopeful that the club can agree on a contract extension with their number 9. “I hope he won’t leave because he is still the best striker around. But I’m not ruling it out anymore. If the club and the player do not agree on a move or on a contract extension, I am 100% sure that Robert will still score over 30 goals for Bayern next season. You just have to look back at how he delivered at BVB during his last season there, even though they didn’t let him go,” he explained.