Real Madrid have held talks with Poland’s star striker Robert Lewandowski, his agent has confirmed, while Bayern Munich insist they will pay whatever it takes to keep him.
“Real Madrid approached us a few weeks ago, we have listened to everything and informed Bayern that we have held talks,” Lewandowski’s agent Cezary Kucharski told the latest edition of German Magazine Der Spiegel.
According to reports in the German media, Real is prepared to pay the Poland striker 25 million euros ($27.78m) per season.
Lewandowski finished as the Bundesliga’s top scorer, when he became the first foreigner to score 30 league goals plus nine in the Champions League, in a tally of 42 in all competitions.
It was the first time a player has scored 30 goals in a single German league season in nearly 40 years.
The 27-year-old has been on Real’s radar since he scored four goals against the Spanish giants in the 2013 Champions League semi-final for previous club Borussia Dortmund.
The Poland hot-shot has a contract in Munich until 2019, but has made it clear he is weighing up his options at German champions Bayern, who he joined in 2014 on a free transfer from Dortmund
The Champions League, or European Cup, which Real won for the 11th time in Saturday’s final, is the only domestic title to have eluded Lewandowski at Dortmund and Bayern.
“I’ve been in Germany for six years, have won everything here. Sometimes you have to consider whether it makes sense to try something new,” said Lewandowski recently.
But Bayern’s chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said the Bavarian giants have ‘no pain barrier’ when it comes to what they will pay to keep their hot-shot in Munich.
“One thing I know for sure: Robert Lewandowski will play in the upcoming season at Bayern Munich. There is no need to think anything else,” Rummenigge is quoted in Monday’s edition of magazine Kicker.
“The decision has been made: we won’t let Robert Lewandowski go, regardless of what offer lands on the table.
“There is no pain-barrier (to what Bayern will pay) when it comes to Robert.”
Lewandowski has so far avoided joining Bayern stars Manuel Neuer, Thomas Mueller, Jerome Boateng, David Alaba and Javier Martinez who have all extended their Munich contracts until 2021. – Agence France-Presse
