Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski receives a £3m wage hike ahead of final year with the club before anticipated free transfer to Bayern Munich
The Polish international had spoken of his unhappiness that the club had gone back on their promise of rewarding him for his form last season but now claims everything has been resolved
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Your support makes all the difference.Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski has ruled out leaving the club before the end of the transfer window after resolving a contract issue which has seen him receive a £3m wage increase.
Lewandowski is widely expected to join Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich next summer when his contract with Dortmund expires, although links with a number of clubs – including Manchester United and Chelsea – refused to go away when the 25-year-old admitted he had not been given a promised pay rise.
The Polish international has developed in his time with the club into one of the most feared strikers in world football, but he expressed his unhappiness at not being allowed to join Bayern earlier this year.
However, having seen Mario Gotze already plucked from their squad when the Champions League winners activated his buy-out clause, Dortmund were hugely reluctant to sell another star player to their main rivals for the German league title, and instead have chosen to run down his contract and allow him to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season.
Lewandowski claimed that he was promised a significant pay rise should he stay with the club, and that officials had failed to stick to their word on the matter, but he now says that the situation is resolved and he is looking forward to challenging Bayern for the title.
Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Lewandowski said: "It is the case that I will stay for another year at Dortmund. We have settled all our disagreements and talked things over. There are no more problems.
"BVB (Dortmund) are ready to mount an attack for every title. We are chasing Bayern."
Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke confirmed that they had awarded Lewandowski with a significant wage hike, although he failed to confirm the actual figure he would receive in his final year with the club.
"It is true that we have adapted his remunerations to his sporting contribution," Watzke said. "We had intended for months to do that."
German media are claiming that his annual salary has gone from £1.3m to £4.3m for his terrific form last season, in which he scored 24 league goals and 10 more in Europe, which included a famous four fouls in one game against Real Madrid.
However, he was powerless to stop Bayern beating them to the Bundesliga title by a mammoth 25 points, as well as defeating them in the Champions League final at Wembley, winning 2-1 to secure their first ever treble.
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