sportyafrica

The Poland international will leave BVB

for the reigning German champions

once his contract expires next summer

Bayern Munich have announced the

capture of Robert Lewandowski from

Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer at

the end of the season.

The 25-year-old forward had long been

linked with a move to the Allianz Arena

side and he has now signed a five-year

deal with the Bavarians.

Clubs such as Real Madrid, Manchester

United and Arsenal had also shown an

interest in signing the prolific Poland

international, but he will continue his

career in the Bundesliga instead.

Lewandowski had been close to joining

Bayern last summer, but the move

eventually fell through as Dortmund

vetoed a move to the Allianz Arena,

accepting the fact that they would

ultimately lose him for nothing.

Bavarians chief Karl-Heinz

Rummenigge described the Pole as

among the best forwards on the planet

and insists he will make the club even

better when he joins in the summer.

"We are very pleased that we managed

to complete this transfer," he told

reporters. "Lewandowski is one of the

world's best strikers. He is going to

strengthen our team, he will give us

another boost."

The attacker started his professional

career at Znicz Pruszkow and also wore

the jersey of Lech Poznan before joining

Dortmund in the summer of 2010.

He has since developed into a key

player at BVB, helping the Signal Iduna

side to two Bundesliga titles, a DFB

Pokal and the DFL-Supercup.

Lewandowski follows in the footsteps of

Mario Gotze - who left Dortmund for

Bayern ahead of the 2013-14 campaign

- after the European champions agreed

to meet the playmaker's €37 million

buy-out clause.