Bayern Munich completed the first big contract renewal on Tuesday as Thomas Muller extended his deal until 2024. There was never an ounce of doubt that Muller may leave the club after getting back to his best since the 2019/20 campaign. The Bavarian club will now turn their attention to the renewals of Manuel Neuer, Serge Gnabry, and Robert Lewandowski.
The contract extension of Lewandowski is set to be a difficult set of negotiations for the club hierarchy. Lewandowski’s agent- Pini Zahavi, met Bayern officials last week, but the forward was not happy with the outcome of this meeting since he didn’t get clarity about his future.
The recent updates from Germany about the first meeting with Zahavi also suggest that Die Roten is yet to make an effort to extend the Polish striker’s stay in Bavaria. According to Sky Sports and Sport1, Bayern is yet to offer a new deal to Lewandowski.
Over the past month or so, it has been widely reported across Europe that Robert Lewandowski is looking for a summer move. The Polish striker is open to joining FC Barcelona after Zahavi held talks with the Spanish club regarding a potential transfer.
Meanwhile, Die Roten keeps on publicly insisting that Lewandowski will be playing in the Bavarian colours next season. Hasan Salihamidzic admitted that the Poland international would stay at the club even if he refused a new deal. There has been a lot of posturing from both sides, with Bayern doing it more publicly to strengthen their case.
In the worst possible scenario, Rekordmeister will see Robert Lewandowski running down his contract and leave on a free transfer in the next summer transfer window. The market for strikers is very expensive, so the German club cannot afford to lose out on a top striker like Lewandowski.
The German club will be open to extending Lewandowski’s stay, but they would like it to be on a shorter duration without a sizeable increase in his wages. The Polish striker is currently the top earner in the first team at Bayern. The Bavarian club has been eager to maintain order in the wage structure, so they may like to retain Lewandowski somewhere closer to his current wage package.
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Zahavi and Die Roten are likely to hold more talks in the coming weeks. Lewandowski will be hoping for a quick resolution one way or the other instead of another long-drawn saga as it did in 2018. In case it becomes a saga, Bayern will be hoping that the outcome will be the same as the previous one. Lewandowski went on to sign a new deal in 2019 after agitating for a transfer in 2018.