This Pic shows Lewandowski in United colours |
Robert Lewandowski will double his earnings as a Manchester United player after moving a step nearer landing his dream move to Old Trafford.
He is set to accept an offer of £20.5million in wages to join the Barclays Premier League side in the summer.
Borussia Dortmund have settled on an £18million fee for the Polish striker, who has long been pursued by Sir Alex Ferguson.
According to German newspaper Bild, the 24-year-old will sign a five-year contract at Old Trafford worth around £4.1m annually.
Sportsmailhas led the way with the transfer of Lewandowski to United, with our exclusive story at the end of last month detailing how he had told friends he would be leaving Dortmund.
The striker’s contract with the club expires at the end of next season, and it is believed he will double his wages with a move to the Premier League.
Though he is widely acknowledged as Dortmund’s most potent attacking weapon, the Poland striker lags behind team-mates Marco Reus and Mario Goetze on the pay scale.
Fellow-forward Reus and attacking midfielder Goetze, another United target, both rake in £3.28m a year, while Lewandowski is on an annual salary of just over £2m.
All that is about to change, after a United initiative that seems certain to break Dortmund’s resolve over their prize asset.
General manager Hans-Joachim Watzke has consistently stated Dortmund have no intention of cashing in on him and will keep him for the remainder of his contract, even if it means losing him for nothing at the end of next season.
But his stance has been widely interpreted as a means of extracting the maximum amount from any buying club, after an acceptance that they will have to sell him in the summer.
United already have the best attack in the top-flight with 48 goals from 19 games but Ferguson, who watched Lewandowski when he played Manchester City at the Etihad earlier this season, wants the most potent strike force in Europe.
He believes pairing Lewandowski with Robin van Persie — and Wayne Rooney operating just behind — would give him that. The manager is also keen to re-unite him with Shinji Kagawa, who formed a successful partnership before joining in the summer.
Lewandowski has scored 40 league goals in 83 games for the side and is in fearsome form, netting braces in each of his last three games for Dortmund.
He is a key reason they topped Real Madrid in the group stages of the Champions League.