Not just Manchester United, but now also Chelsea. Good player never attract just one big team’s attention. Robert Lewandowski of Borussia Dortmund and one of the most productive strikers in Europe last season is now being chased by the Blues as well, although Chelsea’s initial offer is way too low for what Dortmund have in mind.
If they want to let go of him at all. The club have spoken numerous times about wanting to keep this squad intact, after already selling Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United. Dortmund aren’t in the business of being a feeder club. On the contrary. After two titles and clear dominance of Bayern Munich over the last two seasons, the club with the highest average attendance in Europe wants to take it to another level. The Champions League dominance level, and for that you need to keep your best players.
Best player on ‘smaller teams’ is what Chelsea are all about, although except for Eden Hazard, their only other significant signing this summer so far has been another Bundesliga player, Marko Marin from Werder Bremen. The rest of their targets have so far been very hard to obtain. Lewandowski proves to be just as difficult.
Not because of his own wishes. The Polish striker, who scored 30 goals in 46 matches last season for the German Double winners in all competitions, has already declared himself quite happy thinking about a move to the Premier League, possibly to Manchester United who have been very interested for quite some time, and more than ever after Euro 2012. Lewandowski scored only one goal in a disappointing Poland performance, but he played well in all three matches and suffered from being Poland’s only viable attacking threat too often.
Chelsea offered £13 million for the striker to start with. I think Dortmund’s sporting director Hans-Joachim Watzke used it to wipe his nose. A kid could have told them there was no chance Dortmund would even consider such an offer. The second offer of £17 million wasn’t something to agree upon either. According to sources, rumors and anything in that area, Dortmund will only accept £35 million for the 23-year old striker, who has been with the club for two seasons, really shining once Lucas Barrios lost his place in the starting lineup.
Chelsea are desperate, it seems, to add at least one more big name to their squad, who at the moment, might not be enough to mount a serious challenge at the Premier League title while trying to defend their Champions League title. Roman Abramovich wants style along with substance this season. Lewandowski might be a welcomed addition to the team, but it doesn’t look like an easy task to complete.