Robert Lewandowski believes the scheming that has pushed him to the brink of joining Barcelona will be worth any upset it has caused.
After hitting 50 goals across all competitions for Bayern Munich last season, Lewandowski is on the brink of ending his eight-year spell with the Bundesliga champions.
It emerged that Lewandowski wanted to leave as Bayern wrapped up their 10th consecutive German league title.
The 33-year-old Poland international spoke of his clear desire to move on, a year before the end of his contract, and such straight talking left no doubt that he considered his time in Bavaria to be over.
It left Bayern needing to negotiate the best possible deal with Barcelona, and it was confirmed on Saturday that a fee has been agreed, reported to be around the €50million mark.
Bayern had denied they wanted to sell Lewandowski, and in doing so managed to drive up the offer to a level that suited them.
Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Lewandowski outlined his feelings now that he is set for the switch to LaLiga.
"I said that both sides did things that were unnecessary," Lewandowski said. "But maybe certain things had to happen so that the transfer was possible in the end.
"I think both sides are happy now. Bayern get a lot of money, I can go to Barcelona. It was a long, difficult road, but I think that in the end everyone can look each other in the eye."
In the 2020-21 campaign, Lewandowski broke Gerd Muller's long-standing Bundesliga record by scoring 41 goals in a single season, while his 43 league goals in 2021 serve as the record for a calendar year in Germany's top tier.
Lewandowski's total of 312 Bundesliga goals is the second-most scored by any player in the history of the competition, behind Muller (365), while he leaves Bayern having accumulated 344 goals and 57 assists across 375 appearances in all competitions.
"I wanted to play in a league other than the Bundesliga, I had made that decision a long time ago," Lewandowski said. "But I have to emphasise that it was the most difficult decision of my life."
The former Borussia Dortmund striker said he needed to make a decision due to his daughter, Klara, being about to start school.
"If not now, it would probably never have been possible," he said. "It was a unique opportunity."
Football rumours: Mo Salah tipped to leave Liverpool
Mo Salah is keen to leave Liverpool after a failed £200 million transfer bid, with the Sun reporting that three replacements have now been identified.
The i says Sean Dyche‘s job as Everton manager is not under threat, in spite of the club’s recent poor form.
Gremio left winger Gustavo Nunes, a rising star from Brazil, is attracting interest from Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal despite only making his senior debut in February, writes the Daily Mail.
Social media round-upPlayers to watchMason Greenwood: Manchester United could offer him as part of a deal to sign Brazil defender Gleison Bremer, 27, from Juventus, Gazzetta dello Sport claims.
Jarrad Branthwaite: Bayern Munich and Tottenham have joined Manchester United in considering a move for the Everton defender, as per Teamtalk.
Idrissa Gana Gueye: Saudi Pro League clubs are interested in the 34-year-old midfielder, who is unlikely to be offered a new deal by Everton when his contract expires, writes Football Insider.
Mikel Arteta: What Arsenal still have to play for is beautiful
Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to end their season in “beautiful” fashion after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich.
The Gunners lost 1-0 at the Allianz Arena as Joshua Kimmich’s second-half header was enough to seal a semi-final against Real Madrid with a 3-2 aggregate victory.
It followed on from a 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa on Sunday that has dented Arsenal’s Premier League title chances.
They travel to Wolves on Saturday evening needing a reaction to a poor week and Arteta feels his side will approach the game in the correct manner.
Asked how painful the Champions League exit was, the Spaniard said: “It’s there.
“It’s not going to go away, certainly tonight, but I can guarantee you by tomorrow we’re fully focused on Wolves and everybody is lifted.
“What we still have to play for is beautiful. I said before it’s time to be next to these players.
“It’s easy to be behind them and praise the players and talk nice things when we win 10 in a row and one draw.
“The moment is now to be behind them and be next to them.”
After a tight game in which Bayern also hit the woodwork twice and Gabriel Martinelli missed a glorious chance to put the away side ahead, Arteta said his side are continuing to learn after returning to the Champions League for the first time in seven years.
“We haven’t played this competition for seven years and we haven’t been in this stage for 14 years,” he added.
“There’s a reason for it. We want to do everything fast forward, super quick in one season. I think we have the capacity and the quality to be in the semi-final because the margins are very small.
“Those margins are coming from something else that maybe we don’t have yet. We have to learn it. When you look historically it took other clubs seven, eight or 10 years to do it. Today that’s not going to make us feel better that’s for sure.”
While Arsenal are still relatively inexperienced at this level, Bayern are now preparing for a ninth semi-final in the competition since the Gunners last made it that far.
Manager Thomas Tuchel also becomes just the second man, after Jose Mourinho, to guide three different clubs to the final four and was pleased with the performance of the hosts.
“It’s always better to play in front of your own fans,” he said.
“With every tackle and every good action you get the support and it lifts you and gives you a second wind.
“Now it’s the semi-finals and everyone needs to step up – we need to step up and the supporters need to step up again.
“It was a chess game in the first half. Nobody wanted to make the first mistake. Everyone played a bit safe – there were moments for us, there were moments for Arsenal.
“We encouraged the team at half-time to show a bit more personality, a bit more courage. We were more fluid and played a fantastic second half. We deserved to win.”
Arsenal’s season suffers another blow with Champions League exit in Munich
Arsenal’s Champions League hopes were snuffed out as Joshua Kimmich’s bullet header was enough to take Bayern Munich into the semi-finals.
After an enthralling 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium last week, this tie was finely poised but it was the hosts who progressed as Kimmich headed home in the second half to seal a 1-0 win for Bayern.
Thomas Tuchel became just the second man to lead three different clubs into the last four of the Champions League and his side are now closing in on a Wembley final on June 1.
Bayern showed the sort of pedigree in the competition that comes from years of being involved in the business end of the tournament – they have now qualified for 13 semi-finals and have reached the stage nine times since Arsenal’s last semi-final appearance in 2009.
Arsenal, in fact, have never won an away Champions League game from the quarter-final stages onwards and they failed to turn in the sort of performance here that would change that.
Having lost 2-0 at home to Aston Villa on Sunday to dent their Premier League title hopes, their European exploits came to a shuddering halt as Bayern’s nous eventually saw them advance.
The win also maintained England captain Harry Kane’s chances of winning silverware in his debut season in Germany, the former Tottenham striker missing out on a Bundesliga title following Bayer Leverkusen’s remarkable campaign.
Kane had a quiet evening after half a chance in the opening exchanges and it was Arsenal who enjoyed a good spell as they looked to take the lead in the tie.
Gabriel Martinelli flashed a shot wide before wiggling through a couple of challenges only to come up against the imposing presence of Bayern skipper Manuel Neuer in the hosts’ goal.
At the other end, David Raya was called into action for the first time as he saved from Jamal Musiala following a speedy Bayern break.
Neuer’s first meaningful action of the night saw him paw a deflected Martin Odegaard shot off target as he sprang up to prevent the ball running behind for a corner.
Martinelli then missed a great chance to open the scoring just after the half-hour, shooting straight at Neuer when picked out free in the Bayern box.
Bayern were fuming as they looked to catch Arsenal out after Bukayo Saka was down needing treatment and Mikel Arteta gathered his players on the touchline only for the winger to clamber to his feet.
A quick throw-in with all of the Arsenal side distracted was instead pulled back by referee Danny Makkelie, much to the chagrin of the home fans.
Bayern were second best for the majority of a largely passive first 45 minutes for the hosts, but straight after the restart they were on it, hitting the crossbar through a Leon Goretzka header before Raphael Guerreiro’s follow-up deflected against the post.
Arsenal were slightly rattled and Gabriel Magalhaes passed the ball out of play for a corner following a breakdown in communication with Raya.
Arsenal survived the resulting set-piece but fell behind soon after, Kimmich flying past a slow-moving Martinelli to power Guerreiro’s cross into the back of the net.
Arteta reacted almost immediately by turning to his bench, bringing on Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard but Arsenal’s race appeared to be run.
They struggled to create any chance of note in chasing the game, taking more and more risks at the back in doing so.
This may not have been a repeat of Arsenal’s two previous visits to the Allianz Arena, both 5-1 defeats, but it showed Arsenal are still a step below Europe’s elite.
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