Manchester United have joined Liverpool in the race to sign RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner, with a January move being talked up for the striker sitting second in the Bundesliga scoring charts.
While Werner is enjoying another prolific season in Germany, United are struggling in front goal after their 1-0 defeat away at Bournemouth meant the Red Devils have netted just nine goals in their last ten league matches.
Werner only put pen to paper on a four-year new deal with Die Roten Bullen this summer after a move to Bayern Munich failed to materialise, but his new contract contains a very meagre buy-out clause of just €30m (£27m).
Due to the very affordable price for one of the continent's finest young strikers, Werner will pose a fine opportunity to almost any club seeking a forward in what is an overly inlfated market. It is the Mirror, however, who claim the two interested clubs are United and Liverpool, with both keen on a January move for the 23-year-old, although the latter would prefer a summer deal.
There is no doubting that the Red Devils are in desperate need of a striker having allowed Romelu Lukaku to depart to Inter without a replacement being brought in.
It has been widely understood that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would prefer to bring in British talent, but with no available strikers on the market, the young, exciting German offers plenty of room for growth and development - two key assets.
The price is another alluring factor, as for just £27m there is an opportunity to sign a full international who has netted 75 goals in 128 games for Leipzig as well as 11 for Die Mannschaft.
Certainly, this is a player that would be of interest to United, but the running with the suggestion that the Red Devils are to 'hijack' Liverpool's efforts seem somewhat stretched.
Blessed with arguably the best front three in Europe on their day, there is little room for Werner in Klopp's setup as a guaranteed starter. Granted, there could be interest in securing a forward who boasts a solid pedigree for such a bargain price, but it would be a strange call for Liverpool to move for the player any sooner than next summer, if at all.
Guaranteed game time under Solskjaer could swing the pendulum in United's favour over any other unnamed suitors, with United's struggles sure to grant Werner first-team football. However, Solskjaer himself has played down talk of United doing much January business.
After the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday, he said: "We've got loads of players here in the squad who could create more, it's not just look outside, we have to do with what we have."
Source :
90min
