It’s over: Robert Lewandowski announces decision to leave Bayern Munich

No more speculation, no more beating around the bush — Robert Lewandowski has officially confirmed that he wants to leave Bayern Munich this summer. Speaking to the media, the Polish striker confirmed that his story at the club was over. A momentary mistake by the translator caused some to believe he said that “Bayern are not a serious club” but that isn’t true, here are his actual words:

The “make me stay” part refers to his contract, which still has a year left. Per reports, Lewandowski wants to go to Barcelona, who have already made a bid of 30m euros this past week. The Catalan club are still waiting for a response to their offer. Lewy’s statement will put even more pressure on the Bayern bosses to let the player go.

As for “what happened in the last few months”, Bild reporter Tobias Altschaffl is clear — it was the Erling Haaland saga that broke the camel’s back. Bayern’s dogged pursuit of the Norwegian is what drove Lewandowski to this decision, which could see the 50 goal/season striker leave after sight years at the club.

There really isn’t much else to say that hasn’t been said before. People will be quick to blame Lewandowski for his decision to leave, but the Bayern board can hardly consider themselves innocent. In our podcast from a couple of weeks ago, we broke down how the board has allowed player relationships to deteriorate, leading to the departures of various key players time and time again. Listen to it below or at this link if you’re interested.

What will Bayern do now? Well, funnily enough we discussed that on the podcasts too. You know where to find em (wink wink). But obviously the Sadio Mane signing becomes even more important in the wake of the Lewandowski news. We’ll keep you updated as all these stories develop. Shame it had to end this way.