The Premier League season is over and that means the transfer rumor mill is going into overdrive. With the drama of Championship Sunday done and dusted, itโs time to cast an eye at the player movement market.ย
There is no shortage of rumors when it comes to the transfer market. Follow this series throughout the summer as I look at the likelihood of some of the transfer rumors doing the rounds and whether I think they will work out.
Robert Lewandowski
There is not a lot to be said about Robert Lewandowski that hasnโt been said already. Earlier this season on an episode of After Extra Time, Hector Flores of Insert Name FC described Robert Lewandowski as a cheat code. I think that encapsulates the Polesโ stature amongst the elite strikers in football.
At 34 years of age, he is showing no signs of slowing down either. This season alone he had an unbelievable return in the Bundesliga scoring 35 goals in 34 appearances, playing 96% of the minutes available to him.
Add to that his 13 goals in 10 Champions League appearances and there is no sign that Father Time is catching Robert Lewandowski.
That last fact makes it so intriguing that Lewandowski finds himself part of this series. Much like a lot of the top talent across Europe, the Polish strikersโ contract expires in twelve months. And crucially, he has decided he has had enough of the Bundesliga and wants to explore a new challenge.
Who can blame him? He has won every trophy available to him in Germany. I mean he has won the Bundesliga 10 times!
Not to mention lifting the Champions League back in 2020 with his Bayern teammates.
Bayern has promised not to make a transfer this summer essay for their main striker. That has not stopped Barcelona from lodging an initial โฌ32 million bid for his services.
Bayern supremo Hasan Salihamidzic has dismissed the possibility of Lewandowski leaving the club this season saying:
“Lewandowski has a contract until 2023 and he will honor it, We had a conversation with his agent and we made it very clear to him that we envisage the future with him.”
We all know that this kind of tough talk wonโt deter Barcelona from getting their man.
LIKELIHOOD 50%
If it was any club other than Barcelona, I would have the likelihood of this transfer happening much lower. The Catalan giants donโt have the same rules as other clubs, however. Despite reportedly being a billion dollars in debt, they still signed some big names this season. The interesting part here is that the club they need to convince to release their asset is a fellow footballing giant.
I have this at 50/50, but if you pushed me for an answer, I think Lewandowski will be a Barca player next year.
Stuart Kavanagh is a sports journalist from Melbourne, Australia. Along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, he is the co-host of the โAfter Extra Timeโ podcast. Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.
