Bayern Munich told to ditch Robert Lewandowski after his ‘attack’ on Bundesliga club
BAYERN MUNICH legend Stefan Effenberg has told them to ditch Robert Lewandowski after his whinging over the club’s recruitment policy.
After being knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage last season, they have failed to spend big this summer.
European rivals Paris Saint-Germain plus a number of Premier League and Serie A sides have invested heavily in new recruits.
That led to 29-year-old Lewandowski blasting his employers, telling : “Bayern has to come up with something new and be creative, if the club wants to keep luring world-class players to Munich.
“And if you want to keep up at the very highest level, you need these players’ quality.”
But Bayern icon Effenberg has defended his old team’s policies and urged them to dump anyone who refuses to buy into their philosophy – even their star striker.
“Uli Hoeness has already said several times that they will not spend totals by €100 million or €150m. He also attacked his colleagues, who in his opinion apparently did not have the quality to win what he wants: the Champions League.
“I said a few weeks ago that Bayern are in danger of losing touch with PSG and Barcelona if they are not willing to pay these sums. However, Lewandowski is a player - in this role, he should not express such statements publicly. In addition, the decision of Uli Hoeness is now irrefutable and the quality of the team is high despite ‘low’ expenditure.”
Effenberg added: “After the new development centre is finally finished, I see today a huge potential in a completely different strategy: FC Bayern Germany.
“We have so many highly talented, potential world-class players in Germany - not 15 but 30 to 40! They have won the World Cup, the Confederations Cup and the European Under 21 Championship.
“This is exactly the opposite of what Lewandowski demands. €100m, €150m or €200m for international superstars? For this sum you get five or six players in Germany.
“Bayern already have [Manuel] Neuer, [Mats] Hummels, [Jerome] Boateng, [Joshua] Kimmich, [Sebastian] Rudy, [Niklas] Sule, and, of course, Thomas Muller. Why not expand this? For Timo Werner, it would be a logical next step to switch to Bayern. I cannot imagine that he would say ‘I'm going abroad’ or ‘I'm staying with Leipzig’ if they came calling.
“[Leon] Goretzka and [Emre] Can for the midfield, [Jonas] Hector for the left flank, [Julian] Brandt, [Benjamin] Henrichs, [Kai] Havertz, [Kerem] Demirbay, [Amin] Younes and [Max] Arnold… you could spend around €150m and have a team that know how to stand together. That is why they would be successful in Europe.
“If Bayern wants to go for this strategy, then they must fully commit. They have to separate themselves consistently from the foreign top players in the coming years, including Lewandowski. He could go to Paris, where such enormous sums are paid, or Barcelona. Then he has a club that does what he wants.”
Lewandowski signed for Bayern from Borussia Dortmund in 2014 and has bagged 116 times in just 152 matches.
The summer transfer window was one the craziest we have ever seen.
Take a look at the most profitable transfers of ALL time.
And here are the Premier League players whose wages made them the most expensive per minute played.