Timo Werner won’t be travelling to Manchester this week as RB Leipzig try and knock City off top spot in their Champions League group.
An adductor problem has ruled the German striker out of Tuesday night’s game at the Etihad.
But, if reports coming out of Germany are to be believed, Werner may see Manchester soon enough.
Sky Sport Deutschland are claiming that Manchester United are interested in signing the 27-year-old to solve their goalscoring woes.
It suggests United would be prepared to overlook the fact Werner flopped miserably as a £47.5million striker at Chelsea, someone who managed only 10 Premier League goals in two seasons.
Timo Werner proved to be a £47million flop when he played for Chelsea, scoring just 10 Premier League goals over the course of his two seasons at Stamford Bridge
But with Manchester United’s forwards, such as Marcus Rashford (left) and Rasmus Hojlund (right), struggling for goals, reports in Germany are linking Werner with Old Trafford
United manager Erik ten Hag would take some additional firepower during the January sales
Given Werner helped Chelsea win the Champions League, his time at Stamford Bridge cannot be considered a total disaster.
But a goal return of 23 in 89 matches overall is hardly prolific and it’s why Chelsea broke the bank to sign Romelu Lukaku for £97.5m after Werner’s first season in an attempt to upgrade their strikeforce.
United cannot simply airbrush this from history and if they do move for Werner, there will be a huge amount of scepticism given his previous experiences in England.
After Chelsea cut their losses in 2022 and sold him back to Leipzig for £25.3m, Werner enjoyed a decent-enough first season back in German football, scoring 16 times.
But things have gone downhill this campaign, with head coach Marco Rose preferring summer signing Lois Openda at centre forward and Werner limited to cameos off the bench.
So far, Werner has started just two league games and scored twice, meaning his stock has very rapidly fallen at a club where the goalscoring exploits of his first spell are fondly remembered.
Werner’s dissatisfaction at his current lack of minutes seems to have put him on United’s radar, if the report is to believed, although they insist only initial contact has been made and the player wants to stay.
The sight of Werner celebrating scoring a goal has become increasingly infrequent at Leipzig
…