Manchester United will step up their interest in Robert Lewandowski after the striker's scintiliating display for Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid last night.
The Pole scored all four goals as the German side placed one foot firmly in the Champions League final with a 4-1 win at the Westfalenstadion.
Lewandowski has long been a target for Sir Alex Ferguson but the newly-crowned Premier League champions face stiff competition from Bayern Munich.
United sent scouts to watch the 24-year-old put a serious dent in Madrid boss Jose Mourinho's chances of winning the competition with a third different team.
But Dortmund are in no rush to sell a player who has scored 33 goals this season even though he has just 12 months remaining on his contract.
Given the healthy nature of the club's finances, even an offer of £30million may not be enough to convince them to part with their prize asset. One source told Sportsmail: 'We want to keep him and we do not want to sell.'
But relations between the two clubs are at an all-time low after Mario Gotze confirmed he will make the same switch at the end of the season after Pep Guardiola's new club triggered his £32m release clause.
Dortmund fans whistled every time Gotze was on the ball last night, even when they were revelling in a 4-1 lead against the shell-shocked Spaniards. Some supporters also held up signs saying 'Gotze raus', which translates to 'Gotze out' in English.
Lewandowski refused to discuss his future post-match but Dortmund general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke outlined the club's determination to keep him for another 12 months even if it means seeing him eventually depart on a free transfer.
'Our wish is explicit that he stays here,' he told Sky television. 'We will even do without receiving a transfer fee for him - that doesn't interest us in the slightest.
Klopp believes Poland international Lewandowski last night wrote his name into Dortmund folklore, adding: "Whenever I walk through the Borusseum (the club's museum), I always see the same old videos.
'Maybe now Robert's four goals will find a place in there, but for that to happen, we have got to build on this in the second leg.'
No comments:
Post a Comment