According to an exclusive report from the Mirror, Liverpool have withdrawn from transfer talks with RB Leipzig regarding the signing of Timo Werner.
The Mirror claim that due to the current ‘financial uncertainty’ clubs are facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic the Reds aren’t prepared to pay anything above £30m for the world class forward.
It’s reported that the Merseyside outfit have outright refused to meet the Germany international’s £50m release clause.
Werner, who has been one of this season’s most prolific attackers, is also said to have interested Inter Milan and Barcelona, however the European giants also won’t meet the star’s release clause.
It’s even claimed that Jurgen Klopp has expressed his club’s stance to the player himself.
The Mirror’s report first outlines £30m as the maximum amount the Reds would pay for the 24-year-old but then states that Werner is now valued by Liverpool at ‘significantly less than £30m.’
According to the Athletic (subscription required), Werner’s desire is to either join Liverpool in the next transfer window or stay with Leipzig for another year.
The Athletic also report that the lightning-fast forward’s release clause drops to €40m (around £35m) next summer, should the Reds just wait a year to make a move for the forward?
The Mirror suggest that one possible reasoning for Liverpool taking this stance on the versatile forward is that the club will now find it ‘much harder’ to sell the likes of Harry Wilson, Marko Grujic and Xherdan Shaqiri – they hoped to net £60m from these sales.
Werner has scored 30 goals and provided 12 assists in 39 appearances across all competitions this season, his style also seems to suit Liverpool’s system.
We’re interested to see how some Liverpool fans react to this news, for some time now it had seemed like Werner moving to Anfield this summer was a foregone conclusion.