Chelsea are interested in buying RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner in the January transfer window to help ease the burden on Tammy Abraham.
Werner has scored 23 goals in 25 games so far this season and is wanted by a number of Europe’s elite clubs including Chelsea. The Premier League side have identified the young German as an ideal striker to compete with their leading scorer Abraham after boss Frank Lampard was given permission to buy players. The Court of Arbitration (CAS) had reduced the transfer ban imposed on the Premier League for flouting the transfer policy.
And according to The Telegraph, Chelsea have made contact with the Bundesliga side in order to know if Werner has a release clause in his contract that they can take advantage of. But there has been confusion over a supposed release clause in Werner’s contract that has been quoted as low as £25.6million and as high as £51.2m in recent months, which Chelsea have tried to clarify.
The 23-year-old is one of the attacking targets for Lampard next summer with Lyon’s Moussa Dembele, Jadon Sancho, Wilfried Zaha, Leon Bailey of Bayer Leverkusen and Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze been considered ahead of the transfer window.
Leipzig have expressed their desire to keep hold of their star man inJanuary with the German club top of the Bundesliga table and looking forward to a Champions League last-16 clash against Tottenham Hotspur. Also, the club is chasing the Bundesliga title and a place in the Champions League quarter-finals under manager Julian Nagelsmann.
Also, Blues scouts have watched Leipzig on several occasions this season with Ethan Ampadu on loan with the Germans and Chelsea have the option of offering either wantaway Olivier Giroud or Michy Batshuayi to Leipzig or any other club as part of a deal for a forward in January.
Chelsea will have to pay Crystal Palace £80m if they want to bring Zaha to Stamford Bridge but Palace will be interested in Giroud or Batshuayi. Giroud has also been linked with a move to Lyon as part of a Chelsea bid for Dembele. The Blues have tracked Dembele since enquiring about the striker while he was at Celtic three years ago.
