Poland national team captain Robert Lewandowski has been chastised by an ex-Poland international for the way he has handled his Bayern Munich transfer saga.
It is not news that Lewandowski has officially declared his future to lie elsewhere from the German Bundesliga giants. The 33-year-old said at a press conference for Poland during the ongoing international break: “My story at Bayern is over. After everything that has happened in recent months, I cannot imagine further good cooperation.
“Bayern is a serious club and I hope they will not keep me just because they can. A transfer is the best solution for all parties.”
It has since been understood that the striker is lashing out for treatment he received when he was ready to enter into contract extension talks with the club who were, at the time, chasing after Erling Haaland as they plotted a succession plan for him.
Haaland has since moved to the Premier League after Manchester City beat the myriad of clubs who were trying to sign him from Borussia Dortmund.
But that incident has created a rift between the club and the player which cannot be mended as things stand. Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn said in response to Lewandowski after his shocking revelation: “Why Robert chose this way, I cannot tell you. Such public statements aren’t helpful for anybody involved.
“Robert has won the title as the best footballer of the year twice in a row, he should know what Bayern means to him. Appreciation is not considered a one-way street.”
Lewandowski, who is being linked to Barcelona and is said to have agreed personal terms with the Catalan club, has continued to lash out in the media since then. His compatriot and senior in the Polish national team, Artur Wichniarek, has now weighed in on the striker’s crusade to leave the Allianz Arena.
What has been said
Wichniarek believes that Lewandowski could have better handled the situation as it risks tarnishing his image and the successful career he has built at the club. In his eight years, he has risen to become the club’s second-highest goalscorer, netting 344 goals while claiming 19 trophies.
Wichniarek, who played for two German Bundesliga clubs in his day, told Sky Deutschland of Lewandowski’s campaign to leave Bayern: “I think it’s embarrassing what he’s saying to his own club. Robert Lewandowski is being given very bad advice at the moment. I very much doubt whether it is good tactical behaviour by Robert.
“I think Lewandowski and Pini Zahavi are forgetting that Robert has a valid contract with FC Bayern. As his advisor, I would have said: ‘Come on, let’s talk to Bayern Munich privately and discover whether there’s a way to get out of the contract’.”
Wichniarek did not fail to call out the leadership of Bayern for not assuring Lewandowski of their trust in him with the whole Haaland saga. “It hurt Robert how he was treated in the last six months – especially when it came to Haaland,” the former Poland international said.
“Bayern had claimed that they were not interested in Haaland – at the end of the day it came out that Bayern Munich had held talks after all. That bothered Robert a lot.”
Bayern are currently looking for replacements for Lewandowski.
