'Lewandowski has accepted Bayern won't let him go' - Kovac

Robert Lewandowski has accepted that he will have to stay at Bayern Munich for at least another year after talks with coach Niko Kovac.

The Poland international has been looking for a move away from the Bundesliga since the end of last season, as his agent revealed he needed "a change and a new challenge in his career" amid reports he is wanted by Real Madrid and Chelsea.

Hans-Joachim Watzke, meanwhile, said his side would be willing to pay €100m (£88.8m/$116m) to bring him back to Borussia Dortmund.

However, Bayern have insisted they have no desire to sell the star striker, as CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge insisted he would not be sold for as much as €150 million (£134m/$175m).

And Kovac has clarified that he has had talks with the 29-year-old forward and made clear that he would be staying put heading into the new campaign.

"It's true that Robert and I had a conversation last week," Kovac told Sport Bild. "Robert knows how I think about him and what I think of him. 

"The whole club knows the qualities he has. He is certainly among the top three strikers in his position worldwide. We certainly will not give him up. That's the statement I gave him. Robert accepted that. I really enjoyed that."

Lewandowski has been at Bayern since joining from Dortmund in a free transfer in 2014 and has scored 151 goals in 195 games for the Bavarian outfit.

The six-time Bundesliga winner is currently contracted to the club until the summer of 2021.

Bayern have already seen Arturo Vidal leave to join Barcelona this transfer period and Rummenigge admitted that more players could follow him on the way out.

They have also been linked to a move for Ante Rebic from Eintracht Frankfurt, but Kovac dismissed the chances of anything happening this window.