Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang continued his shootout with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski for the Bundesliga's top scorer award at the weekend as the club admitted they could be forced to consider bids for the African Player of the Year in the summer.
At the weekend, Poland international Lewandowski netted twice as Bayern Munich retained their eight-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga table with a2-0 defeat of strugglers Hoffenheim.
His former Dortmund teammate also scored two late goals at the Westfalenstadion, and secured the Thomas Tuchel XI a hard-fought win against Ingolstadt.
Lewandowski has now scored 19 goals this season, which is two more than in his first year at Bayern, one less than in his last season in Dortmund, when he won the Torjagerkanone (the award for the Bundesliga top scorer), and only five short of his 2012-13 record of 24 strikes.
But Bayern forward was not able to pull level with the African Footballer of the Year Aubameyang. The Dortmund forward has already hit 20 goals this term, having scored a total of 29 in his first two Bundesliga seasons.
Aubameyang has now scored in each of Borussia's last 10 matches at the Westfalenstadion, and is just two matches short of Gerd Muller's and Jupp Heynckes' all-time record of scoring in 12 consecutive home games in Bundesliga.
The former Saint-Etienne attacker is under contract at Dortmund until 2020, having prolonged his contract prior to the 2015-16 Bundesliga season.
His form this term has seen him linked with several of Europe's top clubs, although Aubameyang has ruled out leaving Dortmund in the winter transfer window, while Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has said not even €100 million would secure his signature.
Speaking on Sky on Sunday night, Watzke retracted his statement, and said Borussia would at least listen to offers.
"Should there be an offer, we need to discuss it," Watzke said. "Should the offer be over €100 million, we'd need to also talk to the player."
But the Dortmund chief added that the club don't plan to sell, and hope to see Aubameyang score goals at the Westfalenstadion "beyond 2020."
Bayern Munich defensive crisis leaves Guardiola concerned
Javi Martinez, Jerome Boateng and Medhi Benatia are all at least a matter of weeks away from match fitness, leaving Joshua Kimmich required to fill in at the back
Pep Guardiola has revealed concerns over the state of his Bayern Munich back line, despite watching his side beat Hoffenheim 2-0 to re-open an eight-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
Two goals from Robert Lewandowski saw off the struggling visitors at the Allianz Arena, as Bayern maintained their 100 per cent home record for 2015-16, but afterwards Guardiola's main focus was the number of casualties among his defensive options.
Javi Martinez, Jerome Boateng and Medhi Benatia are all injured and the former Barcelona boss is troubled by the situation.
"Of course we have a problem. We have only a real centre-back in Holger Badstuber," he told reporters.
"Medhi Benatia needs two to three weeks until he is fully fit. Jerome Boateng is longer, Javi Martinez not quite as long.
"Joshua Kimmich showed today that he can play as a defender. He is fast and heads the ball well."
Guardiola joked that goalkeeper Manuel Neuer could also slot into his defence if necessary but the Spaniard was thrilled by the performance of his fit players as they secured a sixth straight victory in all competitions.
Once again, huge credit to my team. The players were superb," he said. "I am very pleased with Arjen [Robben]. He is finally back."
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