Chelsea have agreed to activate RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner’s £49 million release clause, sources have told ESPN.
The Premier League giants have moved ahead of Liverpool in the race for Werner by matching the asking price with sources telling ESPN Werner is on the verge of accepting a five-year contract worth £200,000-a-week.
Clubs have until June 15 to buy Werner for a fixed price and Chelsea have decided to act after receiving sufficient encouragement he would be willing to move to Stamford Bridge.
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Liverpool have long been considered front runners for the 24-year-old’s signature given persistent rumours of contact between the two clubs and his admiration for Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.
However, according to ESPN on Monday, Chelsea were considering switching from pursuing their top target, Lyon’s Moussa Dembele, if there was a genuine chance of landing Werner and now they have chosen to act.
Sources have told ESPN that a deal is expected to be finalised in the coming days, giving Liverpool, Manchester United or any other club linked with the Germany international one last chance to enter negotiations.
Chelsea are hopeful that an offer of more game-time could be enough to convince him not to go to Liverpool where Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah are an established front three.
The Blues by contrast, are rebuilding with Hakim Ziyech due to arrive from Ajax while Pedro and Willian are set to depart on free transfers.
Chelsea have been searching Europe for months in their search for a new striker having had to rely on Tammy Abraham this season.
Abraham has performed well, scoring 15 goals in all competitions in addition to making his competitive England debut and winning Premier League Player of the Year at the London Football Awards in March.
However, Abraham is yet to prove his consistency at the highest level and Blues coach Frank Lampard was keen to bolster his options, identifying Dembele as his top target.
5 Comments
I like the way lampard is spending wisely.
not like varchester united that will spend big money on players that won’t perform at the highest level.
Welcome werner!!
BLUE IS THE COLOUR
Abraham you have a huge competition next season to deal with,all the best bruh
Sorry to Abraham, his chance on national team is involve
This came as a shock! I thought Liverpool had already indicated interest in the player. Well, kudos to lampard and Chelsea’s finances.
Impressive! Thanks for the post