Robert Lewandowski: Why Borussia Dortmund's Striker Won't Transfer This Winter
Andrew Jordan@@Andrew_Jordan
Senior Writer IDecember 5, 2012
Robert Lewandowski is renowned as one of the top young strikers in football.
Over the past year, the Polish forward has transformed himself from into one of the elite goal scorers in Europe. Last year, after he started playing in Germany, Lewandowski finished third in the Bundesliga with 22 goals.
Lewandowski's play resulted in a second consecutive league title for Die Borussen, and a second successive year in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2001 and 2002.
A year after his first appearance in Europe's premier club competition, Lewandowski scored four times in what was perceived as the "Group of Death." His performance allowed Dortmund to advance beyond the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in a decade.
Following his recent form, Lewandowski earned enough accolades to get thrown into the conversation for potential January transfers.
The most recent rumor is from the Daily Mail, which claims Dortmund's leading striker would complete a transfer to Manchester United next month.
Transfer links to Old Trafford have not been new for Lewandowski. Before the first match of Euro 2012, then-Poland manager Franciszek Smuda predicted his highly-rated striker would move to Old Trafford during the start of the summer transfer window.
Considering he is the joint leading scorer in the Bundesliga, other links to clubs will emerge around January concerning the Polish star.
However, why would Borussia Dortmund sell Lewandowski in January?
Although they are currently lagging behind a Bayern Munich side that is off to a historic start in the Bundesliga, Die Borussen are still in third place in the league table. Finishing there would be enough for Dortmund to have an automatic berth in next year's Champions League.
It also would make very little sense that Dortmund would move away one of their top players after securing a Champions League round of 16 slot.
The last time in which the German side reached this juncture in this competition was in the 1997-1998 campaign, which was one year removed from winning the European championship.
With the length of time it took for Dortmund to return to this stage in the Champions League, it makes little sense for them to sell away arguably their most prized asset at the time.
It also makes little sense that Manchester United would pursue Lewandowski.
This past summer, it made more sense for United to purchase the Polish star taking into consideration they were looking to remove Dimitar Berbatov.
However, the arrival of Robin van Persie changed the entire complexion of this potential move.
Considering United have four strikers who all have a legitimate case to start, a move for Lewandowski has little benefit for the Polish star.
United will also look to make this January into a month of transition once former Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa returns from injury.
The Premier League leaders will have other players returning from injury during the coming weeks like Anderson, Antonio Valencia and Nemanja Vidic, among others.
The odds of the Polish star joining Man United this winter are practically non-existent. Unless the Red Devils decide to deal either Danny Welbeck or Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, they will not acquire Lewandowski.