How high will FC Barcelona go to get Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski? Maybe not much higher at all it seems

So close, but no cigar. Robert Lewandowski is still a Bayern Munich player, and if the latest scuttle out of Spain is to be believed, Pini Zahavi has overplayed his hand with FC Barcelona as well. The Catalans were reportedly promised that €40m would be enough to acquire the superstar striker — only to find it was only enough to get Bayern to return their calls.

Whirlwind that it’s been, let’s catch us all up:

• Barça are reportedly resigned to go to around €50m, but not more.
• Bayern want as much as €60m, perhaps even €75m
• July 12th is approaching and Lewy might hold out from preseason
• Barça president Joan Laporta has been happy with the drama, but Lewy has had to backtrack
• Bayern honorary president Uli Hoeneß doesn’t think they even have real money

So much for the calm before the storm?

Some transfer pursuits feel inevitable: player wants club, club wants player, apply some pressure, parent club accommodates. Such was the way to Bayern for Ryan Gravenberch and for Sadio Mané; Konrad Laimer may soon follow suit.

This saga, on the other hand, looks anything but. Maybe it’s all that bad blood simmering under the surface now threatening to boil over — and taking the piranhas with it.

Relevo is reporting that Team Lewy had promised Barça that €40m would be enough, a target which the La Liga club feel they’ve now fulfilled. From Onda Cero Radio, Alfredo Martínez further adds that the offer won’t increase “much” higher.

If true, it would be darkly unfortunate for Lewy to discover that his agent has now overplayed their hand with both clubs. Zahavi, of course, cannot actually speak for Bayern. That this report is out there at all points to cracks in what had seemed a united front to pry Lewandowski away from Germany.

While Barcelona are reportedly still optimistic, Bayern’s rumored demands are trending up, up, and away — to a place they may not be willing to follow. And they’ve got plenty of other business to do this transfer window.

Team Lewy has been doing all they can to paint a Säbener Straße return as utterly unthinkable. If it turns out they over-promised and don’t actually have a ticket out of dodge, one wonders when — and at whom — the recriminations will come.