Robert Lewandowski has passed his medical and is Barcelona bound as the biggest saga in the Bundesliga is drawing to a conclusion.
The prolific Polish striker has scored an incredible 238 goals in 253 appearances for Bayern Munich, who must now prepare for life without Lewy. The two clubs have finally reached an agreement with a fee of almost €50-M on the table, and with the forward’s medical cleared on Monday.
Lewandowski is now set to sign a contract and be officially unveiled as a Barca player on the Catalans’ US tour which starts in Miami. The striker is delighted to get the deal done and move his career to the next chapter, saying: “It was very easy to decide to come to Barca. I think I can help to put the team back at the top of European football. Barca is back.”
It’s the Bundesliga 2022 news we’ve all been waiting for and while the writing has been on the wall that Lewandowski was on his way for the last six weeks, only this weekend it seemed that Barcelona and Bayern were miles apart in their negotiations.
Now, it appears that we can all move on.
The Bundesliga 2022 betting odds back Bayern to win an 11th successive title win and they will get their campaign up and running with a trip to Eintracht Frankfurt in just over two weeks.
Over in Spain, Lewandowski’s new club is highly fancied to challenge for the La Liga title under Xavi at SBOTOP odds of 2.10 to lift the 2022/23 league trophy, just marginally outside Real Madrid who are priced at 2.05.
It promises to be an El Clasico battle to remember and Lewy is set to play his part.
Matthijs de Ligt is Bayern bound
As one megastar leaves Munich, another is about to arrive as 22-year-old Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt is set to complete an €80-M move from Serie A giants Juventus. Bayern negotiators have reached an agreement with the Old Lady of Turin and the centre-back is primed to become Bayern’s marquee summer signing.
He has impressed mightily alongside the legendary Giorgio Chiellini with Juventus and forming the world’s best international centre-back pairing with Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. He’s set to sign a five-year deal, but reports suggest he is taking a slight dip in wages from the €11-Msalary he currently earns with the Bianconeri.
The young defender clearly believes it’s time for his next move and Bayern is the club for him.
He leaves Turin with fond memories having made 117 appearances for the Italian club, winning a Scudetto, a Coppa Italia, and a Supercoppa, and the Netherlands star is sure to pick up more medals in the coming seasons.
Mainz shoot down the Magpies
All eyes in England are on the pre-season progress of the Premier League’s richest club Newcastle United as the Saudi-owned Geordies embark on a whole new life as European qualification hopefuls and title contenders sooner rather than later.
Eddie Howe’s side started their pre-season with wins over Gateshead and 1860 Munich, but they were brought back down to earth by Bundesliga club Mainz 05 in a friendly clash in Austria.
Mainz head coach Christian Heidel is hoping to improve on the club’s impressive eighth place finish last term and, while pre-season is about fitness and preparation, this win will do his side’s confidence no harm at all.
Mainz’s new Dutch striker Delano Burgzorg struck in the second half to hand the Magpies a first defeat of pre-season, and the 23-year-old could be one to watch when the Bundesliga action starts on August.
Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund suffered their first loss of pre-season with a 3-1 reversal against La Liga side Valencia.
Two goals from Los Che’s excellent midfielder Goncalo Guedes gave BVB’s new centre-back pairing of Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Sule plenty to think about, while up front, Karim Adeyemi also made his debut for Dortmund.
But it was an old face who scored Borussia’s goal when Marco Reus converted a penalty after half-time substitute Jamie Bynoe-Gittens won the spot-kick early in the second half. Reus will be a key figure this season, not only for his own goal and assist contributions, but also as a mentor for the young Adeyemi.
There is still time to fine tune before BVB start their campaign with a home game against Bayer Leverkusen, when they are backed to win at SBOTOP odds of 2.06. A winning start will launch their season and give Bayern minus Lewandowski plenty to think about.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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