German champions Borussia Dortmund have insisted that star striker Robert Lewandowski will not be joining Manchester United this summer.
The Polish striker, rated at £40million by his club, was last week tipped by his national team boss Franciszek Smuda to join former Dortmund team-mate Shinji Kagawa at Old Trafford next season.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is keen to strengthen his squad after missing out on the Premier League title to Manchester City, and signing a striker is thought to now be top of his priority list after the club secured the services of attacking midfielder Kagawa in a £17million deal earlier this month.
Lewandowski, 23, is seen as the ideal man to compete with Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez for a starting place, with Michael Owen having left the club and Dimitar Berbatov set to follow him out of the door.
But Dortmund’s chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has vigorously denied the rumours, insisting that even if offers are made for Lewandowski, he will not be leaving the club.
‘It does not matter if we are to receive bids,’ Watzke told Sportinformationsdienst.
‘I have said for weeks that Robert will be back in training with our club after Euro 2012 and his holiday leave. And this is what will happen.’
As well as claiming Lewandowski will join United, Smuda also said that his fellow Poland stars Lukasz Piszczek and Jakub Blaszczykowski would leave Dortmund this summer, but Watzke went so far as to question the legitimacy of the reports.
‘Lewy (Lewandowski) is going to Manchester United, Kuba (Blaszczykowski) also somewhere in England, and Piszczek to Real,’ Smuda said before Friday’s opening game against Greece.
But Watzke fumed: ‘I am sick of these speculations. I really don’t care what the rumours are in the media of Poland. I have a detailed knowledge of media in Poland and therefore I know how I have to classify those reports.’
He added: ‘I am going way back with Smuda for years. We have a good relationship. I do not think he has said things like that.’
Lewandowski, who netted 22 goals as Dortmund won their second consecutive title last season, refused to comment on the speculation after scoring Euro 2012’s opening goal against Greece last Friday.
I’m not going to concentrate on these issues (joining United),’ he said. ‘Euro 2012 is the priority. I’m totally focused on the national team.’
by SportsMail
