Borussia Dortmund have misplayed the Robert Lewandowski situation

Borussia Dortmund star Robert Lewandowski wants to leave and he wants to go to European Champions Bayern Munich. He’s turned down Real Madrid, he’s turned down a new contract and he’s not interested in moving to England. If he had a few years left on his contract Dortmund could tell him to be quiet or they could sell him for big money. Cavani, Falcao and Suarez are all being talked about at £50m and Lewandowski is every bit as good as those three. If there were three years left on his contract Dortmund could sell him for that. However, with only one year left to run they are in a very difficult position. All the power lies with Lewandowski but, probably caused by Bayern stealing Mario Götze, Dortmund have dug their heels in and caused a problem for themselves that might have been avoided.

Lewandowski’s sale value is probably now £25-30m. If Bayern had offered them £30m before they signed Götze then they might well have accepted it. Dortmund’s business model comprises them signing players cheaply and selling them on at big profit. Lewandowski cost them £4m so a nice £26m profit, even selling him domestically, would fit their business model. After all, they took Hummels from under Bayern’s noses for just £4m themselves, so it’s not one way traffic. They sell players at the top of their value but they haven’t done that with Lewandowski.

By insisting that they won’t sell the Pole to Bayern they felt like they’d be able to get £25m from someone else. Real Madrid duly offered it but he turned them down. It would be the same with Man United or Chelsea. Dortmund want to get a return on him, but with his contract issue coupled with his beligerent pursuit of a move to Bayern it’s getting harder.

Now, they face a choice. Keep him for the season and let him go for free or sell him to Bayern. Almost as a matter of principle now they appear to have discounted the latter option. Even without this stubbornness they can’t really justify it now. Bayern hold all the cards in this negotiation. They don’t need Lewandowski this year necessarily. They could afford to wait until next summer.

Dortmund can’t though. For starters losing him for free, at a loss, doesn’t sit at all well with the usual business strategy. Secondly, Dortmund will now have a deeply unpopular player whose commitment to a club that prides itself on commitment and an all for one type atmosphere is immediately in question. If Lewandowski is running down time until he goes to Bayern, is he really going to give it his all? Certainly professional pride will come in to play but it’s those extra few percent that he might subconsciously not give.

It’s for these reasons that Dortmund want to sell. But Bayern have no reason to pay full price. They could very easily say, ‘we’ll give you £10m or wait until next year’ and then Dortmund are stuck with a player who they will lose for free and who might not perform at the levels they have become accustomed to. They’ve backed themselves in to a corner that they almost certainly wouldn’t have done if it wasn’t for the Götze bitterness.

Dortmund must learn lessons from this, lessons that Arsenal have learned. If you are a club that operates based on developing players, you can’t afford to let valuable assets hit the last year of their contract. They must either be signed with two years remaining on their deal or sold then to maximise profit and to avoid these kinds of heartaches. Dortmund need to remember this when it comes to Reus, Gundogan and all their other stars but for the time being it makes most financial and squad harmony sense to move Lewandowski and get on with rebuilding. Lessons learned, not to be repeated.