RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann has admitted there might be 'nothing they can do' should Liverpool or any other club meet Timo Werner's release clause this summer.
The striker is on 24 goals in 28 Bundesliga appearances this season after netting a hattrick against Mainz during the week, and his goalscoring antics have caught the attention of, well, everyone.
The Reds are believed to be Werner's first choice of an extensive chasing pack, and manager Jürgen Klopp has reportedly been trying to convince the board to stump up his £52.7m release clause, although 90min understands that the Anfield recruitment team may look elsewhere should Leipzig play hardball.
90??? ?????????: Liverpool are prepared to consider other attacking talents if RB Leipzig don't lower their asking price for Werner...
— 90min (@90min_Football) May 28, 2020
Nagelsmann is understandably not keen to lose his key man, and compares a potential exit to Robert Lewandowski swapping Borussia Dortmund for Bayern Munich in 2014 - a move which has left BVB without a league title since.
He admits, however, that if any interested party is able to meet his release clause, then there is little the club can do to stand in Werner's way.
Nagelsmann said at a news conference: “Of course you have conversations from time to time, but I have not spoken to him about that in the recent past.
“I think he now has 34 goals and assists. I think you have to mention that I would like to keep him. That is an extraordinary quality.
Top scorers across Europe's big leagues so far this season...
— 90min (@90min_Football) May 31, 2020
28 – Robert Lewandowski
27 – Ciro Immobile
24 – Timo Werner
21 - Cristiano Ronaldo
19 – Jamie Vardy
19 – Lionel Messi pic.twitter.com/kM7rJIA89W
“If he leaves for the next season there would be a big gap. It’s like if Robert Lewandowski leaves Bayern Munich. Nobody shouts ‘Hurray!’ there either, I think. They’re clearly weakened then, and it’s the same with us.
“That we’d like to keep him is completely normal. He has an exit clause until a certain date – I honestly don’t know when – and if a club comes along and he agrees with them by then, then that’s the way it is.”
Another club believed to the in the mix are Inter, who have been linked with a potential move should Lautaro Martinez complete his widely anticipated move to Barcelona.
Their sporting director Piero Ausilio, however, claims to know where his future lies - and it isn't in MIlan.
"I know his plans," Ausilio told Sky, as quoted by The Star.
“We have always liked him, and I say that to underline the great work of our scouting department. But he won't come to us. "
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Source : 90min