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| Robert Lewandowski during the training session of Polish team in Wroclaw, Poland, on May 31, 2022. |
Robert Lewandowski’s move to Barcelona is now
seeming closer than it was a few weeks back, with a report from Sky Germany confirming
that the Blaugrana have decided to increase their offer from €32 million to €35
million plus €5 million in bonus payments.
Lewandowski, 33, has attracted strong interest from
Barcelona, but since his ongoing deal with Bayern runs until 2023, the
Bavarians are playing hardball to settle on a middle ground.
As quoted by journalist Florian Plettenberg, despite
Barcelona agreeing to up their side of the offer, Bayern want at least €60
million for the star forward.
That is a steep increase from their initial quote of
€50 million. In any way, Barcelona have no plans to spend that kind of money on
a 33-year-old.
In turn, they are hoping to complete the deal for
around €40 million since personal terms with the player have already been
agreed. The Camp Nou outfit believes Bayern’s asking price of €60 million is
ludicrous especially because he will anyway be a free agent in 2023.
Barcelona understand Bayern could be a tough nut to
crack but since the player, himself, is forcing a move, every involved might
work on a settlement soon.
As of today, the negotiation is still a work in
progress and as quoted by Hasan Salihamidzic, Bayern’s sporting director,
Lewandowski and his advisor Pini Zahavi had a brief chat with Oliver Kahn about
the issue.
“I think we had a very good conversation,” the 45-year-old was quoted by Sky Germany.
“It’s true, I was there. Oliver Kahn was there too, we talked, each side explained their position, but we also discussed that we don’t want to talk about the details. But it was a good conversation,” he added.
Bayern have been extremely clear in the negotiation
to date. They want their striker to honour the deal even if it results in them
losing him for free next year. In an otherwise scenario, anything less than €60
million would be considered a failed approach.
And so, everything now rests on Barca and how they
approach this delicate situation.
