Muller believes Lewandowski could stay: Ribery wanted to go to Real Madrid yet...

Thomas Muller has expressed his hope that Robert Lewandowski will remain at Bayern Munich, even though the striker has said he plans to leave this summer.

The German recalled the case of Franck Ribery, who in 2009 wanted to leave for Real Madrid but continued with the Bavarian giants for 10 more years.

"I hope that the man who has been my attacking partner for years will stay," Muller said in an interview with Kicker.

"We're in the summer break and a lot happens at this time. I remember Franck Ribery's desire to go to Real Madrid.

"Our relationship on the pitch is known. But naturally business is such that this can change.

"In general there is one key thing: the club is more important than us, the players."

Muller indirectly ruled out a drop in Lewandowski's performances if Bayern Munich insist he see out his contract, which expires in 2023.

"Every player who is still at Bayern Munich on September 1 will want to play well, because playing badly is something that satisfies nobody," Muller continued.

Lewandowski's plan to leave

Lewandowski has said that he considers his Bayern experience over and that he cannot imagine continuing at the club after what has happened in recent months, with his agent making similar statements.

It has been suggested that Lewandowski was upset at Bayern's alleged attempts to secure the services of Norwegian Erling Haaland, who has since left Borussia Dortmund and joined Manchester City.

The Polish player felt that Bayern Munich did not care enough about renewing his contract. There are, however, two versions to the story.

On Lewandowski's side, it is claimed that the player did not receive a concrete offer of renewal, while Bayern Munich claim to have made one to his people.