22:34h CEST

Robert Lewandowski is determined to become a Real Madrid player in the near future: behind the Poland striker’s comments on the lack of competitiveness in Bayern Munich’s squad and the need to make more signings there is a desire that the prolific forward has made no attempt to hide. Now that he feels he is in the optimum moment in his career he wants finally to play at the Bernabéu -the “team of his dreams” in the barbed words of Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to describe the machinations of a player who former Germany and Munich midfielder Stefan Effenberg has exhorted the club to sell.

As Rummenigge has noted, Lewandowski’s agents are behind his recent negative declarations but this is not a negotiating strategy: it is the express desire of their client. At this stage Lewandowski’s representatives have managed to persuade him to keep a lid on his need to inform the world that he wants a move to Madrid and suggested he do his talking on the pitch and trust in them. A meeting in the Champions League with Real Madrid or Barcelona – with positive repercussions for Lewandoswki – is the ideal scenario.

Real Madrid pursuing other targets

Full screen Alexander Hassenstein (Bongarts/Getty Images)

Meetings between Bayern and Lewandowski’s people will be frequent throughout the season and there will be a single objective on the table: for the club to fix a price. They do not want to go to war with Bayern but Lewandoswki’s stance complicates the matter. He only wants Madrid but he has been informed that the Bernabéu board does not sanction purchases of players aged over 30 and, as things stand, are not interested in the Poland international and have been taking an interest in 21-year-old Leipzig forward Timo Werner instead. But Lewandoswki will insist that his agents persist. He has never kissed the crest at either Borussia Dortmund or Bayern but has admitted to his inner circle that if he were to play for Madrid, the club he had admired since he was a child, that would be a different matter.

Bayern rumblings

Full screen KAI PFAFFENBACH (REUTERS)

Lewandowski, who last season was reportedly told by Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos that he would be welcomed with open arms at the Bernabéu, learned early during the summer transfer window that Real were going to try and sign Kylian Mbappé, but he does want to give up on his dream. He feels that his current club have ceased to have the necessary mentality to compete in Europe and has been critical of Carlo Ancelotti’s tenure. Bayern are unsure of how best to approach the tension within the club. The Italian’s “go with the flow” approach has ignited the egos of several players and the team’s current style, based on individual quality, has added fuel to the fire. Unrest is growing and Lewandowski feels that his stay in Bavaria will be best served by coming to an end next summer.