The transfer window may not even be a month over, and there’s still at least three months left until the end of the current football season but certain clubs are getting the business done early.
The Mirror picks up on reports from Bild in Germany that incumbent Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have agreed with the agent of Timo Werner, Karlheinz Förster, for the forward to move from domestic rivals RB Leipzig either this year, or when his contract at die roten bullen ends in 2020.
The 22-year-old Werner is one of the hottest properties on the continent and now leads the attack for the Germany national team but - should the transfer go ahead - marks another instance of Bayern Munich of throwing their weight around to procure rival talent.
Someone who knows all too well about this is prolific forward Robert Lewandowski, who will be well aware that Werner’s arrival at the Allianz in the near future might well begin to signal the end of his own time with the Bavarians.
Lewandowski moved from Borussia Dortmund in 2014 agreeing a five-year deal with Munich whilst still with Die Schwarzgelben in a long and protracted transfer that ran the course of another season.
At Munich he was won four back-to-back league titles, taking his cumulative up to six.
As well as becoming the Bundesliga’s top goalscorer on two more occasions to add to the achievement won previously at Dortmund, and has featured in the team of the year for the last four successive seasons.
The 30-year-old’s current contract expires in 2021, but a move sooner could well be on the cards should Lewandowski find himself on the fringes, displaced by Werner.
For once, Chelsea will be out of the running, after being slapped with a monumental two-window ban, but here are three different locations Lewandowski could find himself at in the near future.
Liverpool
Werner has been a mooted target for the aspiring Reds who certainly need depth in the squad. With that triptych not hitting the scintillating heights they managed last season despite their lofty position, with Roberto Firmino being particularly disappointing, Robert Lewandowski could enjoy reuniting with his former Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, under whose tutelage he enjoyed four prolific seasons.
Real Madrid
Likely a case of a little too long, a little too late, there was a time when it seems Lewandowski moving to the Real Madrid was inevitable. It’s a different Los Blancos beast the Pole would be moving to if he does finally complete the transfer. He’s a year younger than Karim Benzema, and Mariano Diaz has been limited to just eight La Liga appearances so far this season since his return. This could be the spark to spunk the Santiago Bernabeu back into action after a relatively disappointing year.
Paris Saint-Germain
Lewandowski’s agent Pini Zahavi was the man who helped Neymar to become the most expensive player of all time when the Brazilian moved from Barcelona to PSG. The flashy forward does not, reportedly, quite see eye to eye with the club’s record goalscorer Edinson Cavani, with whom Lewandowski shares many a trait. Cavani out, Lewandowski in for one last hurrah? We’re not talking about those brobdingnagian Neymar sums of money again, but whatever fee Munich slap on their striker to milk some profit, be assured, Les Parisiens can pay.
Manchester City
Despite their swashbuckling style that has reaped in staggering amounts of goals and rewarded more league points, Manchester City currently only operate with two out-and-out strikers; Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus. Lewandowski worked under now-Cityzens manager Pep Guardiola for three seasons at Munich, enjoying his best ever return as a striker in a league season with the Spaniard.
Bonus: Blackburn Rovers
Infamously, Poland’s greatest ever goalscorer was set to move from his homeland and club Lech Poznan not to Borussia Dortmund, but BLACKBURN ROVERS in 2010. That bloody Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland interrupted his flight. Could this finally be the year the move actually happens? (Spoiler: No.)
