Thomas Muller expresses his desire for Robert Lewandowski to stay at Bayern Munich

Like the majority of Bayern Munich fans right now, Thomas Muller wants Robert Lewandowski to stay at the club, at least for another season to see out the final year on his contract. Lewandowski didn’t mince his words when he said that his “story at Bayern is over” during a press conference with the Polish national team, but there are currently a lot of roadblocks in terms of his supposed pursuers — FC Barcelona. They — allegedly — cannot afford Lewandowski and would have to rely on the sale of at least a few players to be able to accommodate funding a Lewandowski transfer.

Mullerdowski has become a household nickname at Bayern for the prolific, dynamic duo of Lewandowski and Thomas Muller for the uncanny connection they have in Die Roten’s attack. Muller’s name is completely synonymous with FC Bayern and, while he hasn’t been at the club for as long as Muller, Lewandowski needs no introduction on the world’s stage, let alone the Bundesliga. For Bayern, it would be devastating to see said pair torn apart with Lewandowski leaving the club, and Muller recently expressed his desire for his partner in crime to stay at the club where he already has it all.

In a recent interview with kicker, Muller said that he genuinely wants Lewandowski to stay at Bayern. “I would like my long-term offensive partner to stay,” he affirmed. There’s still plenty of time left between now and the end of the summer transfer window, and it makes it a little bit more complicated at this current juncture because most players are currently away with their national teams for UEFA Nations League matches. Because of that, not a lot of negotiating will get done while said players are away on international duty.

Muller also referenced Frank Ribery’s near move to Real Madrid back in 2010. At the time, he was very close to leaving Bayern for the La Liga giants, but conversations with Uli Hoeness helped convince him to renew his contract and stay at Bayern. Ironically enough, it was only a few seasons ago that Lewandowski had referred to Real Madrid as his “dream club” despite now wanting to push for a move to Barcelona. “It’s a break and we’ve experienced a lot during these times, I just remember Franck Ribery’s request to move to Real Madrid. One thing is certain: every player, who is still under contract in Munich on September 1, will also want to play well, because no player enjoys playing badly,” Muller said.

It remains to be seen what, exactly, will happen with Lewandowski between now and the end of the transfer window, but a lot hinges on the outcome. Bayern has already brought in Noussair Mazraoui and (unofficially) Ryan Gravenberch from AFC Ajax and they are heavily pursuing Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and VfB Stuttgart’s Sasa Kalajdzic at the moment. If Lewandowski winds up staying for another season, the latter two moves run a risk of potentially not happening this summer.