Chelsea Target Timo Werner's RB Leipzig Release Clause Revealed
Chelsea and any other interested parties will only need to pay €50m (£42.6m) if they want to secure Timo Werner's signature, although any potential deal will have to wait until the summer.
Werner has been in sparkling form for RB Leipzig once more this season, scoring 18 goals in just 17 Bundesliga outings while also notching six assists as Julian Nagelsmann's side sit top of the division.
His form has sparked a race across Europe to secure the German's signature, with Chelsea among a whole host of interested parties. Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have all been credited as potential suitors. The Reds even lodged a bid to sign Werner last summer, but he was reported to have turned the move down due to a fear of playing time.
Now The Athletic have revealed how much clubs will need to pay to secure his signature, but it is a blow to Chelsea as one of the players top of their wish list won't be accessible this window; it is thought that both Werner and Leipzig are against a mid-season move.
That decision could very well have been one of the agreements made between both parties when Werner opted to sign a fresh four-year deal with the club last August, this despite agreeing personal terms with Bayern that summer and looking destined to leave.
Key to Werner's next decision is whether he will be granted a regular starting berth, something both Bayern and Liverpool couldn't offer.
For Frank Lampard, he wants to provide competition for first-choice striker Tammy Abraham. That said, whether Werner would usurp Abraham in the starting lineup is questionable, given the English forward's superb form this season, but he definitely wouldn't settle for a place on the bench.
Already this window the Blues have had a bid rejected for Lyon's Moussa Dembélé, with forward reinforcements high on Lampard's priorities. However, Dembélé is unlikely to move following the recent comments by the club's president. He spoke of the Frenchman's intention to win trophies with Les Gones, therefore other options will be looked at.
One of those won't be Werner, though - at least not yet - despite a quite modest €50m release clause for a player who is among the top strikers in Europe.