By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, July 18 (Xinhua) -- "Goal" was one of the first words Klara Lewandowski could pronounce in her life. It might be no bold guess that her father's job profoundly influenced the two-year-old's language skills. "She is somehow saying that when she is watching me on television," said her father, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.
The Pole acknowledges how his life has changed since he and his wife Anna became parents.
But Lewandowski's life hasn't only changed when it comes to private matters such as the new family member. The striker's role in Bayern Munich's squad developed from being an important figure continually delivering goals (191 since 2014) to one of the team's leaders and influencers.
In advance of the 2019/20 season, the 31-year-old has become one of the Bavarians' key opinion leaders.
Gone are the times when the striker regularly spoke about his sincere wish to leave and join another of Europe's leading clubs. He repeatedly talked about his biggest dream of winning the Champions League as the main reason for leaving.
But now the Bundesliga's top scorer of the last few years seems to have given up plans to join Real Madrid, and is about to extend his contract with Bayern until 2023.
Only minor details need to be ironed out, he admitted while on a promotional tour with his side in the USA, including a match against Premier League outfit Arsenal, in which Lewandowski scored a goal as Bayern lost 2-1.
The deal isn't done yet, "but we can say he is feeling extremely good in Munich," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. "If you have a performer like him around, able to deliver to a very high level over the next years, you want to keep him."
In the past, press conferences with Lewandowski were not regarded as especially significant events. But now the growing number of media outlets asking for interviews is evidence of the Pole's increasing importance as one of the club's leaders. All of a sudden, the forward's comments are seen as trendsetting.
"Robert has changed fundamentally, and he has turned into a true Bayern leader," club president Uli Hoeness commented, with club chairman Rummenigge calling him one of the squad's cornerstones. For this reason, Bayern coach Niko Kovac appointed Lewandowski as the team's third captain behind Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller.
Lewandowski might have accepted no longer being one of the main targets of other big European clubs. But at the same time, he started to cherish what the Bavarians have to offer. The lone wolf has become a caregiver.
What hasn't changed is the forward's burning desire to win the Champions League, evidenced by the pointed language he used demanding more from Bayern's officials when it comes to new arrivals.
For weeks he has been praising Manchester City forward and German international Leroy Sane as one "that would make us better right away."
The Pole has also voiced his concerns about the squad, which in his opinion is too thin to achieve big things. "Everyone knows that," he says, adding that it is not only him expecting fresh blood but other team leaders. In his eyes, it's time to make essential steps, as the club hasn't made "big transfers over the last two years," he said.
Lewandowski said it is difficult to win the Champions League and other titles without new top stars.
And one can expect that his demands match with most fans' expectations, including the ones of little Klara Lewandowski enchantingly celebrating every goal scored by her father.
