Chelsea hijacked Liverpool’s move for German forward Timo Werner after offering the RB Leipzig star a deal worth £200,000-a-week.
Widespread reports in Germany and England on Thursday claimed Wener had verbally agreed a deal to move to Stamford Bridge in a £50m move.
The German looked destined to join Liverpool and Werner’s made no secret of his admiration or close relationship with Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.
However, Liverpool have dithered on a move for Werner, which opened up a window of opportunity for Chelsea to swoop in.
According to ESPN, Chelsea have promised to make Werner one of the highest paid players in the club’s history on a salary of £9.6m-a-year.
His salary of £200,000-a-week would make him the club’s second highest earner behind N’Golo Kante, who is believed to earn around £220,000-a-week.
The club are now ready to activate the German’s £49m release clause by July 15th and believe their offer of greater game time at Stamford Bridge comapred to Anfield has swung the deal in their favour.
However, Liverpool are distancing themselves from the deal and reports emerging tonight claim the Reds couldn’t vindicate spending such a large amount on the striker during the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic has had a grave effect on finances in football and with Liverpool unable to guarantee Werner a starting berth, the club’s owners refused to sanction a deal that would have made him the fourth biggest signing in the club’s history.
Nevertheless, Werner’s arrival will be a huge coup for Frank Lampard, who was promised he would receive financial backing this summer after being denied the chance to add to his squad during his opening two transfer windows at Stamford Bridge.
Hakim Ziyech, the Ajax winger, is set to join this summer as the club have already agreed a deal with the Dutch giants. Lampard will then set his sights on Leicester full-back Ben Chilwell, with the England international reportedly keen on the move.
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