Bayern Munich were ‘celebrating’ after the Robert Lewandowski ’s transfer to Barcelona was confirmed on Saturday.
An extraordinary report into the Poland international’s switch to the Camp Nou has revealed how the German champions were willing to allow the striker to leave without a transfer fee prior to the Catalan giants transfer interest arriving in May, resulting in a €60million (£51.9m) deal. It is significantly more than Bayern paid to sign Sadio Mane this summer in a £35.1million agreement.
The report in El Pais insists that the transfer fee totals €10million (£8.5m) more than what is being reported by the clubs due to a secret agreement. Barca were said to have pledged the full amount of €60million if Bayern confirmed the figure at €50million, in order for the Blaugrana to receive favourable impact within the media.
The transfer fee is broken down as €45million in a lump sum upfront payment, with a further €5million should Barca qualify for the Champions League within a specified timeframe. The extra €10million is said to be deferred by a year as an arbitrary measurement of the striker remaining at the Camp Nou for the entirety of the 2022/23 campaign.
The deal is said to be viewed as a roaring success by Bayern officials, who had decided after their Champions League quarter-final exit to Villarreal that the player would be informed he could leave the club as a free agent should he wish to move on – as they looked to reinvent their attack.
Lewandowski’s contract at Bayern had been due to expire in 2023 but Nagelsmann, alongside CEO Oliver Kahn, sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and president Herbert Heiner had unanimously agreed that the club needed to invent an alternative attacking plan without the Polish marksman, who will celebrate his 34 th birthday in August.
Have Your Say! Is signing Mane as a Lewandowski replacement an improvement for Bayern? Tell us what you think here.
They were said to be delighted when Barcelona – the only club who approached Bayern regarding a transfer – made contact over the possibility of a deal in May. Three months earlier, Nagelsmann had first told Kahn of his plan to rejuvenate Bayern’s attack without a ‘pure number nine’, as he believed that – whilst sufficient to dominate domestically – was holding the German champions back on the European stage.
This was due, Nagelsmann insisted, to the level of defensive opponents in the knockout stages of the Champions League. The coach’s argument centred on Lewandowski not improving Bayern’s collective chance creation – despite his excellence in the opposition penalty area.
Lewandowski is just one year younger that Nagelsmann but it was revealed by TZ that the two clashed on the training ground in the closing period of the season. It is reported that the German coach drew the striker aside during one session to speak to him personally.
Nagelsmann is said to have told Lewandowski that he wanted Bayern to utilise width more in their attacking situations and went on to explain how he wanted the Poland international to position himself in order to best receive the crosses. This is said to have drawn the ire of Lewandowski, who swiftly informed the coach of his goal scoring numbers that campaign.
The report adds that this was not the only clash between the striker and the leaders at the club, where there is said to have been an increasingly uneasy relationship. That has culminated in his summer exit, but securing such a lavish fee for an unhappy player, about to turn 34 and into the last year of his contract, is seen as a resounding victory in Bavaria.
