/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66132775/1200579561.jpg.0.jpg)
Based on the numbers, 23-year-old RB Leipzip forward Timo Werner just might be the best striker in the world. If he isn’t, he’s not far off it, and still with room to grow. And when you’re in that conversation, chances are you’d back yourself to get minutes anywhere.
That’s the story today out of Germany, with Bild claiming that despite recent talk of Chelsea interest, they have information that says Liverpool is the preferred destination for Werner, though in any case the young German international won’t be moving until summer.
Recent chatter in the English press has had Chelsea looking to beat Liverpool—and anyone else—to the punch on Werner by getting a deal done this month, but so far neither Leipzig nor the player appear to be especially eager to complete a transfer in January.
Further, Werner reportedly has a release clause, one that stood at €60M last summer and that is believed to decrease with each passing season. Which means that he won’t come cheap—but relative his talent and track record, he might still be a bargain.
So far this season, Werner has 25 goals and 10 assists in 26 appearances, good for a goal involvement every 60 minutes. It’s the kind of jaw-dropping, star-making return that usually only Lionel Messi can dream of getting in one of Europe’s top leagues.
And in Werner’s case, even if it’s unsustainably high, last season’s goal or assist every 106 minutes was hardly shabby and well in line with Liverpool’s attacking trio. As to where he would actually fit into that, it’s hard to say for certain except that he would.
Certainly for the Reds, if the goal is to both improve the current squad and to prepare for the future, there could be few better targets than Werner—and at least as Bild sees it, he wouldn’t be put off at the thought of joining a team as good as the Reds.