Despite all of the interest in Robert Lewandowski, Borussia Dortmund have decided to stop the circle of rumors around the player, with manager Jurgen Klopp declaring Lewandowski will get his chance to play for Bayern Munich, but only after the season is over.
Bottom line? Dortmund are giving up on €25 million from a bunch of clubs so they can have a stronger squad for next season, which does make sense for a team with a strong financial base. However, it also had to do with Lewandowski not wanting to move to anywhere but Bayern, rejecting one offer from Real Madrid three weeks ago.
Chelsea, Manchester United and possibly other clubs had their sights set on the Polish striker, but he is convinced that only a move to Bayern Munich will be the best thing for his career and brand value. Dortmund, already losing Mario Götze to Bayern Munich in a transfer than was announced in April with special timing (just before the team’s Champions League semifinal) didn’t want to “help” their strongest rivals, even if it means giving up on a lot of money.
The thought process behind this is possibly having a wonderful first half to the season and finishing above Bayern, and trying to convince Lewandowski to sign a new contract. Dortmund have been looking at several attacking midfielder prospects (Mkhitraryan, Eriksen) over a month now, and didn’t want to add a striker to their wanted list.
I think it is a known fact that Robert is going to play for Bayern after the upcoming season. Now the only question is how to shape the time until then. That is our concern and it is our commitment to our fans and members to ensure that we will have a more competitive team in the upcoming season. Up to a certain point we were with Robert’s desire for change and were ready to talk.
But nothing happened so we had to eventually say: A sale doesn’t work for us anymore. And now we want to prove that, with a quality player like Robert, we can be successful in the coming year. Our results in the coming season is what we’re all about. I know that Robert and I see it the same way.