Poland hot-shot Robert Lewandowski said yesterday that Bayern Munich does not need to sign another striker as the prospect of a rival for his position arriving in Bavaria loomed large.
“If I am here, why do Bayern need a new striker?” asked Lewandowski in a press conference after Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge sparked transfer rumours recently by praising Napoli’s Argentina international Gonzalo Higuain.
“I am prepared to play 60 games a season and we have other top players in our attack. I do not need competition in order to train even harder.”
Lewandowski sent Bundesliga records tumbling last September by scoring five goals in just nine minutes in Bayern’s 5-1 drubbing of Wolfsburg in Munich. The 27-year-old has scored 16 goals in 15 league games this season and is second only to Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has scored 18 goals in 17 games in Germany’s top flight.
But Lewandowski insists he is far from the finished article in his battle against Aubameyang to become the league’s top scorer. “There is no area of my game which is perfect,” insisted Lewandowski, who has a contract until 2019 and had an estimated market value of 70 million euros ($76.47m).
“I can still improve on my shooting, for example. At the moment, I’m not thinking about who will be the top scorer. If I have a chance going into the last few games, then perhaps I’ll think about it then.”
Bayern are at mid-table Hamburg tomorrow night when the Bundesliga returns after the month-long winter break. The Bavarian giants hold an eight-point lead in the table as Pep Guardiola enters the final six months of his contract as head coach.
“We need to attack more. Hamburg will play defensively and wait for a chance,” said Lewandowski. “If we start well, it will be easier.”
But Bayern were rocked by losing 2-1 at second-division side Karlsruhe last Saturday in a friendly. “There is no need to talk up Karlsruhe, we’re not looking into the result too much. On Friday, we’ll be ready,” assured Bayern’s Germany defender Holger Badstuber. “We have a good starting position, but Friday won’t be easy and it will be a fight.”
Meanwhile, mid-table Hamburg are waiting on the fitness of two of their key stars for visit of league leaders Bayern Munich. Top-scoring striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga, who has bagged six goals in 16 games, is struggling with a shoulder injury while captain and centre-back Johan Djourou has picked up a knee injury in training.
“We can’t draw on unlimited resources,” said Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia, whose side is tenth in the table with Bayern eight points clear at the top. “We need a dream day to beat Bayern and it will be a great challenge.”
Hamburg last beat Bayern in September 2009 and have been defeated 5-0 and 8-0 on their previous league meetings. Labbadia is definitely without Bosnia defender Emir Spahic, who has torn a muscle in his stomach.