Barcelona have made a new offer for Robert Lewandowski of €35m (£30m) plus €5m in add-ons but Bayern Munich are expected to turn that down.
The striker is determined to join Barcelona despite approaches from Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain and has verbally agreed a three-year deal.
Leading Bayern executives have continued publicly to point out that Lewandowski is under contract for another year and say they expect him back for pre-season training on 12 July. Last month the player declared his Bayern career “over” and said he did not believe the club would hold him against his will.
Bayern’s board member for sport, Hasan Salihamidzic, gave an interview on Thursday to Sky in Germany in which he appeared to leave open the possibility of Lewandowski leaving for the right price. Asked to state as a percentage the likelihood of the player staying he said: “Until now it’s 100%.”
Salihamidzic laughed when pushed on whether the Poland international would be allowed to leave for big enough money and said: “I don’t know. No, like I said, I never deal with things that are in the air right now.” He went on to repeat that Lewandowski was expected back as planned.
Lewandowski and his agent, Pini Zahavi, had a meeting with Salihamidzic and Bayern’s CEO, Oliver Kahn, in Mallorca last week. Salihamidzic described it as a “good conversation” during which each side set out its position and said he was convinced Lewandowski could be reintegrated at the club. “It’s fixable,” he said.
Salihamidzic’s statements mark a softening in tone from what was said last month by Herbert Hainer, Bayern’s president. Hainer said: “Robert has a contract until 2023. That’s how long he will play with us.”
In other news, Paul Pogba will re-sign for Juventus early next month after terms for his return were finalised on Thursday. A verbal agreement was reached last week and remaining details were settled after the midfielder’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, held another meeting with the club.
Pogba is available on a free after leaving Manchester United, who paid £93.2m to buy him back from Juventus in 2016. His United contract expires on 30 June and he is due in Italy shortly after that.
