Contract Leaked: Lewandowski Almost Backed Out Of Agreement With Bayern For Real Madrid

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Robert Lewandowski was only a signature away from joining Real Madrid instead of Bayern Munich. His agent explains how he persuaded Lewy to trust Bayern.

Polish outlet Onet Sport recently obtained an incredible document: an unsigned contract, in Spanish, between Robert Lewandowski and Real Madrid. The date: December 9, 2013, less than a month before Lewandowski could officially sign with Bayern Munich. Lewandowski had made an oral agreement to join Bayern, but the offer gave him second thoughts. Should he join Los Blancos and live in Madrid? In the end, Lewandowski kept his word and became a Bayern legend.

The contract with Real Madrid

The terms Real Madrid were offering were impressive: a six-year contract from July 1, 2014, to just over a month ago, June 30, 2020. The contract was worth €8.6 gross annually, and on top of that Lewandowski would receive a signing bonus of €10.9 million.

Onet Sport: The contract Real Madrid offered Lewandowski in December 2013 including a €10.96m signing bonus + €9.6m yearly wages until June 2020. Prohibited from riding a motorbike, skiing, going on a motorboat, paragliding and climbing.

Another agreement guaranteed Lewandowski even more money for his image rights, a one-off payment of €1.9 million and another €1.5 million gross annually.

The entire contract was worth €75.5 million gross and included a buy-out option of €150 million euros. Onet notes that, “The contract offered to the sniper was fairly standard; it did not contain unexpected clauses, although Real forbade the competitor from riding a motorcycle, motorboat riding, skiing, parachuting, and any kind of climbing.”

But Lewandowski could not sign it until January 1, 2014, six months before his contract with Dortmund ended. He had told Bayern he would sign with them. Would he keep his word?

By:CEST