Manchester United are looking to sign Timo Werner (Leipzig, 27).
Florian Plettenberg of Germany’s Sky Sports reported on Thursday (April 4) that “Werner is one of Manchester United’s top targets. The Red Devils have made enquiries about Werner and we had information about him back in November.”
Transfer market expert Ekrem Konur added: “Manchester United have opened talks to sign Leipzig striker Werner. Werner wants to return to the Premier League and Arsenal and Newcastle United could also make offers.”
Werner was a top-class striker in Leipzig’s first team. He scored 21 goals and seven assists in 32 games in 2016-17, 21 goals and 10 assists in 45 games in 2017-18, 19 goals and 10 assists in 37 games in 2018-19, and 34 goals and 13 assists in 45 games in 2019-20.
On the radar of big clubs, Werner arrived in a Chelsea shirt in the summer of 2020, and that’s when the dark days began. Frequent offsides and missed big chances cost him countless scoring opportunities, and he was limited to 23 goals in 89 games over two seasons. Considering his £47.5 million transfer fee, these were disappointing stats.
Eventually, he was forced to pack his bags at Chelsea and returned to his ‘home team’ Leipzig in the summer of 2022. His first season in the second tier was impressive. With 16 goals and six assists in 40 official matches, he made a comeback. In particular, he helped his team win the DFB-Pokal with five goals and one assist.
But this season, things started to go wrong. In 14 games before the winter break, he played just 386 minutes. His playing time was limited as he became the fourth striker behind Roy Offenda, Yusuf Poulsen, and Benjamin Sheshko. His attacking points were also low, with just two goals and one assist, and he was recently stuck on the bench.
After a season and a half on the sidelines, he is now on the release list again, with multiple Premier League clubs making offers. Manchester United, Arsenal, Newcastle, and others have been mentioned. One name that stands out is United. United’s offense has been abysmal this season, scoring just 22 goals in 20 Premier League games. They need to bolster their offense and have set their sights on Werner.
Sky Sports in the UK listed Werner, Eric Maxime Choupo-Moting, and Serge Giroud as possible targets for United. The possibility of Werner joining the club cannot be ruled out.