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Barcelona have made a first offer to Bayern Munich for Robert Lewandowski and would also like to sign Sevilla’s Jules Kounde to bolster their defence, sources have confirmed to ESPN.
Bayern want more than €40 million for the Polish striker, who has expressed a desire to leave, but Barca’s opening bid is not thought to be that high.
Lewandowski, 33, is out of contract in 2023 but the German club’s public stance is still that he will see out the final year of his contract.
“The situation hasn’t changed,” Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn said at the presentation of Sadio Mane on Wednesday, who joined from Liverpool for a fee rising to €42m.
“Robert has a contract with us for another year and we expect to see him on the first day of pre-season in July,” Kahn added.
Sources say the relationship between Barca and Bayern has soured due to the conflict that arose around the failed launch of the European Super League, which Bayern were not involved in.
At a dinner before a Champions League meeting between the two sides last season, Kahn told Barca executives exactly what the German club thought about their push to form a breakaway competition.
Bayern have also privately and publicly questioned Barca’s ability to do a deal of this size in their current financial plight.
“Barcelona want to sign Lewandowski when they had a debt of €1.3 billion six months ago,” former president Uli Hoeness said recently.