Erik ten Hag will look to bolster his attacking options at Manchester United by acquiring a £36m-rated ex-Chelsea forward in January.
As per reporter Florian Plettenberg, the Red Devils have enquired about 27-year-old, Timo Werner, however negotiations are yet to take place.
The likelihood is that Werner will remain at his current club until the summer, but the move could develop over the next few weeks.
Why Man United want Werner
Following an impressive debut campaign as manager of Manchester United, Ten Hag has been dealt an unfair hand this season, due to the sheer number of players that have been unavailable, with the current list tallying up to ten.
This was on show at Goodison Park at the weekend, with the only attackers on the Red Devils bench being Facundo Pellistri and youngster, Joe Hugill.
Rasmus Hojlund was one of the players who endured time out, which left an injury-prone Anthony Martial as the main striker versus Everton. Unreliable is the most appropriate term to describe the French attacker and Ten Hag will want to ensure that his side isn’t without a true number nine like last season.
Availability is key and Werner’s injury record whilst he was at Chelsea wasn’t an issue, only missing nine matches throughout his time in London due to injury.
The RB Leipzig forward is known for his electric pace, movement beyond the opponent and being a natural goal scorer, who is lethal when confidence is high. Werner also recognises himself as a player who can perform in numerous roles and four years ago, he stated “I’ve become more versatile”.
Buying individuals who can cover a handful of positions will be beneficial to United, especially going into the second half of the campaign. Werner can feature off Hojlund, as a lone striker or as a left-sided forward, but Rafael van der Vaart isn’t convinced by the attacker, labelling him as a "blind horse".
The Bundesliga transfer curse
Manchester United have signed a handful of players from the Bundesliga in the past, with the majority of those individuals failing to live up to the high standards set by the United faithful.
Jadon Sancho, Shinji Kagawa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan all made the switch from Borussia Dortmund, yet despite having small spells of quality, a lack of consistency has been the driving force behind a shortened career at Old Trafford.
Sancho has been the notable Bundesliga nightmare, now alienated from the squad by Ten Hag after some less-than-favourable numbers. Indeed, the former Dortmund man has only registered 12 goals in 82 outings for the Red Devils.
Unlike the three aforementioned, Werner has played in the English top-flight prior and Premier League fans are more informed of his ability. During his first campaign at Chelsea, Werner played an important role in the UEFA Champions League triumph, whilst also scoring 12 goals and accumulating 15 assists in 52 appearances across all competitions.
However, the signing of Romelu Lukaku in the 2021/22 season affected the German and he later claimed that he “didn’t feel honoured enough”.
It is reasonable to presume that if Ten Hag had his full squad available, including Werner, then the rapid forward would not make it into his best starting XI ahead of Marcus Rashford or Hojlund.
Given the quote just mentioned and the fact that the boss doesn’t rotate often, dressing room unrest may occur like at Chelsea, which raises question marks on whether this would be a smart signing.