How the Erling Haaland saga drove a wedge between Bayern Munich and Robert Lewandowski

According to Sport Bild journalists Christian Falk and Tobi Altschäffl (as captured by @iMiaSanMia) the seeds for Robert Lewandowski leaving Bayern Munich were sewn last summer:

Lewandowski has already considered leaving Bayern last summer after Salihamidžić’s statements on TV about Haaland. Lewandowski told friends that when your employer is already considering replacing you, then you have to consider leaving.

It got worse, however, when Lewandowski’s agent Pini Zahavi approached the club about a contract extension last October and was rejected.

“The answer: silence. No yes, no no, no maybe, just nothing. Then, towards the end of the meeting, I said: ‘If that’s the case, then sell him next summer,’” Zahavi said (via Tz). “The answer: ‘We don’t actually want to sell him, but if you bring us an offer of 120 million euros, then we can talk.’ So roughly the amount that a Haaland commitment would have cost in the summer, including all fees.”

The exchange did not sit well with Lewandowski and now he wants to leave Bayern Munich for good.

“Just like David Alaba, Robert Lewandowski is a grown man and knows exactly what he wants. I’m certainly not turning his head or trying to influence him. I would never do that,” Zahavi told Sport Bild (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “I’m only representing the interests of my player, that’s my priority. I’ve been doing that for 40 years in this business where I was involved in the biggest deals in the world.”

How serious is Lewandowski about leaving for FC Barcelona? Well, the Poland international ha already spoken to Liverpool FC’s Thiago Alcantara about his experience with the club.

The Sport Bild report also states that Bayern Munich still believes Robert Lewandowski will fulfill his contract without any issues despite the player’s desire to leave now.

Curious to learn more about why Robert Lewandowski wants to leave Bayern Munich? Well, the board had a lot to do with it. This was the major topic of our latest podcast episode, which you can listen to below or at this link.