Robert Lewandowski tells Bayern Munich he wants to leave and puts elite clubs on alert

Robert Lewandowski will push to leave Bayern Munich this summer and is pleading with the club to let him go having given eight years’ service after being signed for ‘free’ in 2014.

Although Barcelona appear to be in prime position to sign Lewandowski it is understood that no deal has been agreed. Several Premier League clubs are closely monitoring the situation and have registered their interest.

Signing Lewandowski may also have a knock-on effect for Barcelona given how precarious their finances remain and it would increase their desire to sell Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong who is of interest to Manchester United even if he wants to stay at Camp Nou.

Bayern continue to insist that Lewandowski, arguably the world’s most accomplished centre-forward, will stay even if it means he sees out the final year of his contract and leaves for free in 2023. However, the 33-year-old has told team-mates that Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Wolfsburg, in which he scored, was his final game for the club.

Bayern have not offered the Poland international a new contract but only because he ended talks after insisting that he wants to leave immediately. Lewandowski’s decision is not based on money but on seeking a new challenge before the end of his career having played in the Bundesliga since 2010 when he joined Borussia Dortmund.

Lewandowski ran down his contract at Dortmund, where he played under Jürgen Klopp, to join Bayern where he has enjoyed huge success and helped them win their 10^th successive title this season. Now playing in England or Spain is understood to appeal to him. There may also be interest from Paris Saint-Germain depending on Kylian Mbappé’s future.

It has been claimed that Lewandowski has agreed a three-year deal to join Barcelona but sources close to the striker denied that this was the case even if they do appear to be the favourites should he leave. If Bayern were to lose Lewandowski they are likely to push even harder to sign Liverpool’s Sadio Mané who also has just one year left on his contract.

Lewandowski has indicated for the past couple of years that he might be interested in leaving Bayern but the club has always insisted it will hold him to his contract. A fee of up to £35 million had been mooted for the player.

Since joining Bayern, Lewandowski has scored 344 goals in 374 competitive games.