2021 Ballon d'Or snub could be a factor behind Robert Lewandowski's decision to leave Bayern Munich: Reports

Losing the 2021 Ballon d'Or race to Lionel Messi might influence Robert Lewandowski’s decision to leave Bayern Munich, a report from Sport has claimed.

2021 was an eventful year for Bayern’s undisputed talisman Lewandowski. He once again won the Bundesliga as the league’s leading scorer, bagged the European Golden Boot, and scored a career-high total of 69 goals in a calendar year. Yet, for all his exploits, he came up short in the Ballon d'Or race, with Messi ending up winning the prestigious accolade for a whopping seventh time.

As per the aforementioned report, that unexpected loss compelled the Poland international to come to a bitter realization. He supposedly understood that it wasn’t possible for a Bayern player to win the Ballon d'Or, as the club weren’t popular enough outside of Germany. Additionally, the striker, who joined from Borussia Dortmund in 2014, was reportedly disappointed with the Bavarian’s renewal offer. The two aforementioned factors might contribute towards the 33-year-old’s decision to leave the Allianz Arena at the end of the season.

Lewandowski turned down advancements from the Premier League and was disinterested in joining up with Messi and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain. Real Madrid were an option, but he understood that he would not be able to oust Karim Benzema from the team. Additionally, he had no doubt that Kylian Mbappe would also arrive at the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer.

That left only one option for the Pole, Barcelona, a team eager to bring back their glory days. The Blaugrana have the marketability that Bayern lack and could offer the perfect sendoff to the striker. It also does not hurt that the forward’s family enjoy Spanish culture and see themselves settling down in the Catalan capital. The transfer is far from being finalized, but both the club and the player see it as the perfect union.

Robert Lewandowski could once again fall short in the Ballon d'Or race

Last year, Lionel Messi controversially beat the Poland striker to the punch in the race for the Golden Ball. This year, he could be beaten fairly and squarely by a player who is in the form of his life. Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema, who is the leading scorer in La Liga and the Champions League, is the frontrunner for the 2022 Ballon d'Or.

The Frenchman has scored 41 goals and provided 13 assists in 41 appearances across all competitions. Lewandowski, on the other hand, has bagged 48 goals and six assists in 43 games. What puts the Madrid striker ahead in the Ballon d'Or race is his performances in the Champions League knockout rounds.

He has scored 14 goals in the European competition so far, with nine of them coming in the last four knockout games, including two hat-tricks. If he manages to help Los Blancos overcome Manchester City in the semi-finals, he could find himself in a massively advantageous position for the award.

Next week is set to be monumental not only for Madrid and City but also for the Polish skipper, who cruelly missed out on the Golden Ball last year.

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