"Lewandowski can break his own goals record" - Jürgen Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann says only one man is capable of breaking the Bundesliga best mark for single-season goals, and that's the record holder, Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski scored 41 times across the 2020/21 campaign to best a record, set by the late Gerd Müller, that had stood for 49 years.
Twenty rounds of fixtures into 2021/22, Bayern's latter-day scoring sensation has struck 23 times - only one fewer than at the same juncture of last term.
Watch: All 41 of Robert Lewandowski's Bundesliga goals in 2020/21
According to Klinsmann - himself a scorer of 110 goals in 221 Bundesliga games - it's entirely plausible that Lewandowski could improve on his remarkable gold standard before hanging up his shooting boots.
"I don't think anyone will break the record, perhaps with the exception of Lewandowski," Klinsmann told bundesliga.com at a media round-table. "He has the chance to beat his own best mark of 41 goals. He's one of those guys that could keep playing until they're 40."
Klinsmann went on to elaborate on why he thinks reigning two-time FIFA Best Men's Player Lewandowski will continue to enjoy such tremendous success in the years ahead.
"I think [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Lionel] Messi, Lewandowski - they are so professional, they are so driven, that they will make sure they figure out any little way to prolong their careers for another couple of years. They're going to do that," he said.
"They look after themselves with nutrition, with sleep, with additional training. They hire their own personal trainers, they hire their own nutritionists. They're people that just say if it gives me three, four more seasons in my career, that's not only a lot of money, but it's also the chance to win a couple more trophies. And I think that's what Robert will do."
Watch: Lewandowski, simply the best
A former Bayern player and coach, Klinsmann hopes Lewandowski's triumphant future will play out in the colours of the record champions. The former Borussia Dortmund striker's current Bayern deal runs until 30 June 2023.
"I hope he will stay with Bayern Munich. He finishes off his career, down the road with this huge club, and maybe he becomes a Bayern ambassador, he becomes part of the club, like Oliver Kahn now is the CEO of this huge club and they keep on having that tradition to involve their former players in the management of the club.
"Lewy's built himself such a huge reputation within the Bayern and the Bavarian community that I don't really want to see him leave the club. I think he has a couple more years in himself, you know, easily three or four because he looks after himself and he's top.
"The way he continuously keeps that hunger, keeps that desire, keeps that energy and drive to score and to win titles is just a completely different level. So he proved not only himself to be one of the greatest, he proved it to everybody outside Germany as well."
Lewandowski, who turned 33 last August, has scored 328 goals in 357 competitive appearances for the 30-time Bundesliga champions. He previously hit 103 in 187 matches for Dortmund, whom he left for Munich in summer 2014.
The Poland captain is the Bundesliga's record non-German marksman with 300 goals, and second overall to the division's outright top scorer, Müller (365). He is currently bidding to land his fifth straight top scorer's cannon, and seventh of his goal-filled Bundesliga career.
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