After eight glorious years at the serial Bundesliga champions, the upright striker is at the mercy of his club’s roughshod ways
The big problem for Robert Lewandowski is that he is a professional. He has one year left on his contract at Bayern Munich and he wants to leave, but nobody believes he will down tools and create a fuss if they choose to hang on to him for another year. He likes his job. He likes his colleagues. He has a level of self-respect that means he will carry on diligently even if his bosses are treating him outrageously. He doesn’t want to let anybody down, least of all himself.
This, after all, is a forward so dedicated to his trade and to self-improvement that he eats his meals in reverse, dessert first, because he believes it keeps his body fat down. He turns 34 in August, but seems younger. Since 2013 he has missed only 24 games through injury. He’s not going to go on strike or be disruptive. He’s not going to go through the motions while focusing on his golf. When he stayed a season longer than he wanted at Borussia Dortmund before moving to Bayern, he banged in 20 in 31 league starts.
