TIME is running out for Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool to sign striking superstar Timo Werner for under £50million, according to reports.
The Premier League giants only have 12 days before Werner‘s £49m release clause at RB Leipzig expires.
Sky Sports report that clubs have until Monday June 15 to guarantee a price for the highly-rated Werner.
Previously, clubs were not too concerned about the release clause expiring as they assumed the coronavirus crisis would drive transfer fees down.
However, the confirmation of Inter Milan’s sale of Mauro Icardi to Paris Saint-Germain for £54m has thrown a spanner in the works.
At 24, Werner is three years younger than Argentine ace Icardi and Leipzig are therefore unlikely to accept less for their star asset once his clause expires.
It means the race is on to snap up the prolific young German forward who scored his 29th goal of the Bundesliga season in a 4-2 win over Cologne on Monday night.
His preferred destination is understood to be champions elect Liverpool.
He is thought to be the club’s no1 target and Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is understood to have held a virtual meeting with Werner.
But doubts still remain about whether Liverpool are fully prepared to stump up the required cash in the current climate.
A move away from Leipzig is inevitable after boss Julian Nagelsmann conceded defeat in his efforts to keep Werner at the club.
He said: “There is nothing we can do about it. He knows what he has in Leipzig and also what he has with me.
“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. I can’t think of anything new to say to Timo.”
With Champions League football a must for Werner, United may struggle to lure him to Old Trafford but Chelsea are ready to pounce.
Frank Lampard‘s Blues are reportedly plotting to table a bid to land the striker to bolster their resources up front.
The Stamford Bridge hierarchy believe the promise of more game time in West London could tip the scales in their favour when Werner weighs up his options.
