‘Lewandowski unproven as he’s not played in Premier League’

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 4 min read

Former England star Paul Merson has sensationally claimed that Robert Lewandowski is unproven at the very highest level – unlike Harry Kane.

Lewandowski enjoyed a sensational 2019/20 season, scoring 55 goals in 47 games as Bayern Munich won a historic treble of the Champions League, Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal.

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His exploits saw him named as The Best FIFA Men’s Player of 2020, as well as a host of other individual honours.

He has continued his heroics this current campaign, scoring 42 goals in 36 matches for Bayern.

Lewandowski: Statistics in 2020/21

The 32-year-old is widely considered the best number 9 in the world, if not the best player overall.

However, one pundit who disagrees is former England and Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson.

Despite Lewandowski’s brilliance in the Champions League, Merson believes that Lewandowski is relatively unproven as he only plays in the Bundesliga.

Instead, Merson considers Tottenham striker Kane – who could be set for a big-money transfer this summer – as a superior striker.

“I would say he is already the most talented player in the England squad – more talented than Grealish and Foden even,” Merson wrote in the Daily Star.

“He scores so many goals, and he passes the ball better than both of them as well.

“Robert Lewandowski won the award for the best player in the world last year. But he’s not as good as Harry Kane.

“He’s only ripped it up in Germany. Kane is doing it in the Premier League.

“And I can’t remember Lewandowski touching the ball at the last World Cup. But Kane won the Golden Boot.”

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Merson also commented on next year’s World Cup in Qatar, with the qualification for the controversial tournament getting under-way this week.

The 1998 World Cup participant believes that two familiar faces will still be the main men.

“The next World Cup is going to be about [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo for me. If one of them wins it, that would be the defining split between them for me,” he said.

“If Messi wins in Qatar, you have to say he is the best of all time. And the same goes for Ronaldo. We would finally have an answer to the question.

“I think it could happen too. I think the next World Cup is perfect for them, and I think they are already planning for it.

“The fact it’s going to start in November is a massive advantage for them. They will be fresh because they haven’t played a full, gruelling season of football.

“And when you’re fresh, talent takes over.”