Barcelona have made a new offer for Robert Lewandowski of €35m (£30m) plus €5m in surcharges, but Bayern Munich are expected to turn it down.
The striker is determined to join Barcelona despite offers from Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain and has verbally agreed to a three-year deal.
Leading Bayern officials continue to publicly indicate that Lewandowski is contracted for another year and say they expect him to return to pre-season training on July 12. The player announced last month that his Bayern career was “over” and said he did not believe the club would keep him against his will.
Hasan Salihamidzic, board member of Bayern for sports, gave an interview to journalists. Sky in Germany in which he seemed to leave open the possibility of leaving Lewandowski at the right price. When asked to indicate in percentage the probability that the player will stay, he replied: “So far it’s 100%.”
Salihamidzic laughed when asked if the Poland international would be allowed to leave for big enough money and replied: “I don’t know. No, like I said, I never do what’s in the air right now.” He went on to reiterate that Lewandowski was expected to return as planned.
Last week, Lewandowski and his agent Pini Zahavi met Salihamidzic and Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn in Mallorca. Salihamidzic called it a “good conversation” in which each side laid out their position and said he was convinced that Lewandowski could return to the club. “It can be fixed,” he said.
Salihamidzic’s remarks mark a softening of tone from what Bayern president Herbert Hainer said last month. Heiner said: “Robert has a contract until 2023. That’s how long he will play with us.”
In other news: Paul Pogba will re-sign with Juventus early next month after terms for his return were agreed on Thursday. A verbal agreement was reached last week and the rest of the details were settled after the midfielder’s agent Rafaela Pimenta had another meeting with the club.
Pogba is available for free after leaving Manchester United, who paid £93.2m to buy him from Juventus in 2016. His contract with United expires on 30 June and he should arrive in Italy shortly thereafter.