RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann has admitted there is nothing more he can do to persuade Timo Werner to stay at the club amid transfer rumours linking him with Liverpool and Manchester United.
The Germany international has been a top performer for Leipzig in recent times, and it would not be at all surprising if he were to soon make the move to one of Europe’s giants.
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Werner was recently linked with Man Utd by ESPN, even though the report suggests the Red Devils still believe the player is more likely to end up at Anfield.
Still, there’s no doubt Werner would be a terrific signing for United if they could get him, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in need of more firepower up front after a challenging season in which the club might once again finish outside the top four.
Liverpool seem less in need of a new signing up front, but Werner is a huge talent who might prove more of a goal threat than Roberto Firmino, who could perhaps move into a deeper role to accommodate the 24-year-old if he does join.
Either way, Nagelsmann doesn’t sound too optimistic that he can stop Werner from leaving.
“There is nothing we can do about it anyway. He knows what he has in Leipzig and also what he has with me, I know what I have in him,” Nagelsmann said, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.
“And I show him that – similar to what I do with [Dayot] Upamecano – by letting him play every game from the beginning and if everything goes normally he is allowed to play through most games.
“He gets many chances to develop himself. That’s my job, I have to do that. I don’t know if it will help him that much if I tell him every day. I try to do it more with action.
“A player has to feel that he can get better. If he doesn’t feel that, it wouldn’t do any good if I kept on telling him to stay here. In the end it is his life, his career, he can decide that.
“We already had this discussion last year, then in winter and now again. I’m basically someone who knows what he has to say and can add his two cents to everything.
“But here I can’t think of anything new to say to Timo either. So I rather try to convince him with actions and in the end he has to know what he wants to do.”