It was always going to take something special for anyone trying to sign Robert Lewandowski from Borussia Dortmund. After unsuccessfully making a move for the Polish striker during the summer, Manchester United are getting closer to completing a deal that will add him to their long list of strikers next season.

It didn’t work out too badly for United – they did sign Robin van Persie, so far scoring 13 goals, joint-leader in the Premier League, helping his team to the first place in England. Still, Alex Ferguson likes having a lot of option, and with Wayne Rooney probably being preferred in different positions, Danny Welbeck simply not playing and developing as expected and Javier Hernandez not always happy about his situation, another world class striker is needed.

According to the Bild, United have already sent an offer worth €22 million for the striker, and Dortmund are more and more inclined to accept it, figuring Lewandowski, 24, won’t be worth much more in the future. It also goes with their policy of allowing one major playing to leave each season, selling Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United last summer, while keeping the rest of the squad that won two consecutive Bundesliga titles.

Lewandowski loves playing for Dortmund, but has mentioned a couple of times he’d love to be playing for Manchester United. Throw in the fact that United are willing to offer him €5 million a season, compared with his €2.5 million he’s making at the moment, and it’s going to be very hard to refuse for both the club and eventually the player. United are a bigger club in terms of global appeal, but Dortmund’s potential for local success, next to Bayern Munich, is probably just as great. It just offers less in terms of money and overall flair of the employer.

Lewandowski is having another productive season, scoring 10 league goals in 16 matches, 14 in 23 from all competitions, including 4 goals in the Champions League. Since joining Dortmund from Lech Poznań in 2010 for €4.5 million, he has scored 40 goals in 83 Bundesliga matches for the club, winning two league titles and the German Cup.