Poker about Lewandowski? Barca president Laporta takes a stand

The President of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, has spoken in poker about Bayern star Robert Lewandowski. Further details of a meeting between Lewandowski and Barca coach Xavi in Ibiza have also surfaced. News and rumors about FC Bayern Munich can be found here.

Here you can find all the news and rumors about FCB from the day before.

FC Bayern: Lewandowski poker? That’s what Laporta says

The President of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, has spoken in poker about Robert Lewandowski. Laporta put on the brakes a bit in the courtship of the Bayern Munich attacker who was willing to change.

“Lewandowski is a Bayern player, I prefer to keep the situation calm,” Laporta said in an interview with Spanish journalists on Saturday. “We know he has said publicly that he wants to come to Barca and we’re very flattered, but we have a lot of respect for Bayern Munich, they’re one of the best clubs in the world. There’s mutual respect between clubs.”

Laporta had previously announced in a media round that FC Barcelona wanted to pay a maximum of 40 million euros for Lewandowski, who is still under contract with FC Bayern until 2023. Last week there were reports of a corresponding offer, which Bayern are said to have rejected. According to a report in the newspaper Sport, Bavaria’s pain threshold should even be 75 million euros. Previously, there was talk of 50 million euros.

After the end of the season, Lewandowski publicly stated that he wanted to leave Bayern. Those responsible for the record champions had recently confirmed that the Polish attacker would remain. “We are happy to see him in training on the first day. We have a responsibility to ensure that the club is as successful as possible. Robert has shown what he can contribute and what he will contribute in the future. He has a contract with FC Bayern Munich until 2023. We don’t deal with anything else,” said CEO Oliver Kahn.

FC Bayern: Details of Lewy meeting with Xavi revealed

Robert Lewandowski and Xavi are said to have met during his Ibiza vacation. The meeting in the “Lio” club is said to have been of a coincidental nature.

The Spanish Newspaper AS now wants to know the details. So it was a friendly conversation. When saying goodbye, Lewandowski is said to have confirmed his desire to switch to FC Barcelona. “I really want to train with you,” Lewandowski said loudly AS have said.

FC Bayern starts preparing for the new season on July 12th. Most recently, the Bayern bosses had emphasized that Lewandowski was expected to start training on Säbener Straße. His contract runs until 2023, and the 33-year-old had rejected an offer to extend his working papers.

Mega deal, flop and big surprise: Bavaria’s record sales checked

1/22

FC Bayern sees itself as a buyers’ club, not a seller’s club. But of course there were also enough transfer movements away from Munich. At SPOX, we looked at how well Bayern was doing and compiled the top 20 sales.

2/22

DOUGLAS COSTA is still FC Bayern’s record sales. In 2018, Munich sold the Brazilian to Juventus Turin for 40 million euros, a top deal in view of further developments. Costa has now landed at LA Galaxy in the US.

3/22

First Bayern trained MATS HUMMELS, then they sold him cheaply to Dortmund only to bring the defender back for 35m. For almost 5 million (30.5) fewer, things went the other way in 2019. It was economically balanced.

4/22

The sale of TONI KROOS to Real Madrid for 25 million euros was probably the transfer that was later discussed the most. And even if the fee in the summer of 2014 was handsome, wouldn’t the five-time CL champion have been more valuable in sporting terms?

5/22

At the time, the sale of OWEN HARGREAVES was what today would be called a mega deal. In 2007, the Englishman moved to Manchester United for €25 million, which was a crazy fee back then, nothing special today. Economically it was a coup.

6/22

At THIAGO, Bayern gave in to the player’s request and, unlike Kroos, the decision was sportingly justifiable. The €22m Liverpool traded him for was accommodating and perhaps played a role in Sadio Mane too.

7/22

MARIO GÖTZE is about to start a much-noticed Bundesliga restart in Frankfurt, but it never really caught on at Bayern. And so his transfer back to Dortmund for 22 million was a transfer minus deal for Munich, who had previously invested 37 million.

8/22

MARIO MANDZUKIC was unpleasant for the opponent, but enormously valuable for Bayern in the 2013 treble season. Nevertheless, after a Guardiola season in 2014, it was over and we went on to Atletico Madrid. A good deal for the record champions for 22 million euros.

9/22

The “Golden Boy” RENATO SANCHES only succeeded sporadically at Bayern and was unlucky. The 35 million price tag was also onerous. The Portuguese found his way to OSC Lille for 20 million. A deal that didn’t work out for the people of Munich as hoped.

10/22

It’s different with ARTURO VIDAL: Bayern could be happy about the 18 million transfer fee from FC Barcelona, even if the Chilean had cost almost 40 million euros. Despite the undisputed class, that was simply too much for the very impulsive Vidal.

11/22

With MEHDI BENATIA, too, the record champions digged deep into their pockets. He came to Munich from Rome for 28 million euros – and didn’t do justice to this sum. After a previous loan, Juventus brought the Moroccan back to Italy for €16.7m.

12/22

LUIZ GUSTAVO was a solid Bayern player for two seasons, after the treble VfL Wolfsburg took the Brazilian for €16m, just a million less than Bayern Munich had spent. Meanwhile, Gustavo has come to Fenerbahce via Marseille.

13/22

From a purely economic point of view, SEBASTIAN RUDY was a splendid business for the Bavarians. The ex-national player came from Hoffenheim on a free transfer and was passed on to Schalke 04 for 16 (!) million euros, although he was only a backup player in Munich.

14/22

MARIO GOMEZ won the treble in Munich, was a top scorer once and had great value in his seasons. The 30 million transfer fee was well invested in 2009 and Munich was a fair partner for AC Florenz in the summer of 2013. 15.5 million was quite cheap.

15/22

“Power cube” XHERDAN SHAQIRI didn’t turn out to be the factor hoped for at Bayern, but his potential made for good business. Inter Milan paid 15 million, significantly more than Munich had previously spent. Shaqiri is playing with the Chicago Fire today.

16/22

PIERRE-EMILE HOJBJERG came from his own offspring and fought his way through the professional business. He never became a regular at FC Bayern, but caused such a stir when he was loaned to Schalke that Southampton invested an impressive 15 million.

17/22

SEBASTIAN RODE was also big plus business for FC Bayern. Signed on a free transfer, he made such an impression that he was worth 12 million to Borussia Dortmund. But that’s nothing compared to his value for Eintracht Frankfurt.

18/22

MARC ROCA is also a player who, purely economically, cannot be blamed for the Munich team. In the autumn of 2020, the Spaniard came from Espanyol Barcelona for a bargain 9m and despite a meager balance sheet, Leeds United put 12m on the table.

19/22

LUKAS PODOLSKI’s time at FC Bayern was characterized by a mismatch between expectations and results. It never fit 100 percent and so Poldi’s path led back to Effzeh for 10 million. The Munich team transferred the same amount to 1. FC Köln in 2006.

20/22

BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER’s move to Manchester United was not primarily about business, but about fulfilling a heartfelt wish for the Bayern idol. The 9 million transfer fee for the Red Devils was very decent and both sides were satisfied.

21/22

Yes, MARCELL JANSEN landed in the top 20 of Bayern sales. But here Munich had miscalculated at 14 million transfer fee. Jansen and the record champions didn’t fit. The current HSV president switched to Hamburger SV in 2008 for 8 million.

22/22

Bayern also sold PATRIK ANDERSSON of Sweden to FC Barcelona for 8 million. But things were different here in 2001. He left Munich as CL champion and historical scorer of the 1:1 to the 2000 championship. The 4 minutes in May, you know.

FC Bayern: Gnabry probably arouses interest in Manchester

Serge Gnabry’s open future has apparently brought two top teams from England onto the scene. Like the tabloid Sun reported, Manchester United and Manchester City are said to be hot for the international. A possible fee of 35 million pounds (equivalent to around 40 million euros) is mentioned.

Gnabry’s contract with FC Bayern expires in 2023. So far, the 26-year-old has hesitated to sign. Bayern would like to keep Gnabry.

At Man City, winger could replace Raheem Sterling, who is said to be about to move to Chelsea. In addition, Gabriel Jesus is about to jump towards Arsenal.

FC Bayern: Overview of the summer timetable

date	Opponent	venue	contest
Wednesday July 20th	DC United	Audi Field, Washington DC (USA)	test match
Saturday 23rd July	Manchester City	Lambeau Field, Green Bay (USA)	test match
Saturday July 30th	RB Leipzig	Red Bull Arena, Leipzig	Supercup final
Wednesday 31 August	Victoria Cologne	Höhenberg Sports Park, Cologne	DFB Cup, 1st round