It was an eventful Wednesday at Bayern Munich as the club confirmed the signing of Sadio Mane from Liverpool. The Senegalese forward has signed a three-year deal after two clubs reached an agreement over the transfer fee last week. Mane is set to add more quality to Die Roten’s brilliant attack.
The unveiling press conference on Wednesday evening highlighted the amount of effort Die Roten had made to clinch the signing of Mane. The 30-year-old forward was swayed by the club’s ambitions for him and silverware in the upcoming seasons.
Along with several questions related to the arrival of Sadio Mane, Bayern once again reiterated their stance on the future of Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker remains determined to engineer a move away from Bavaria in this transfer window. Lewandowski prefers a move to Barcelona.
While talking to the media on Wednesday (via 90 min), Bayern president Oliver Kahn insisted that Lewandowski is not going anywhere this summer. Kahn is expecting Lewandowski to report for pre-season training at Sabner Strasse next month. The Poland international currently has a year left on his contract.
"“Robert has shown in the past how important he is to this club. He has a contract until 2023 and we’re looking forward to the first day of training with him.”"
Lewandowski has reportedly rejected a contract offer from Die Roten. He has publicly expressed his wish to leave Die Roten on several occasions since the end of the season. Some of his comments were made with the motive of forcing a move, which didn’t go down well with Kahn.
Barcelona will have to come up with a significant fee to change Bayern’s mind. The Spanish club will need Lewandowski to kick up a fuss to force Die Roten to listen to offers for him. He may have to go on strike. Considering the exemplary professional Lewandowski was in the last transfer saga during the 2018 summer window, it is difficult to see him go on strike.
Die Roten managed to keep Lewandowski in 2018 even though he was agitating for a transfer. The Bavarian faithful will be hoping for a similar outcome this summer. The Polish striker guarantees 40 goals every season, so it is not surprising to see Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic dismissing a transfer in the media.
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As things stand, Mane is not the replacement for Lewandowski. Both should be in the lineup against Eintracht Frankfurt in the first Bundesliga game of the season at the start of August. Die Roten’s attack will be a serious force with the addition of the Senegalese forward.