Man Utd ‘serious’ over €50m flop as Osimhen alternative as shortlist of misfits grows

Robin Bairner

• 3 Jan 2024 14:28 GMT
• 2 min read

Manchester United see RB Leipzig attacker Timo Werner as a “serious target” for the January transfer window, according to The Mirror.

Man Utd are known to be in the market to sign a low-cost attacker and Werner could be available after falling out of favour with the Bundesliga club this season.

The Germany international has managed only 386 minutes of football this season across 14 matches and has started only a couple of league fixtures for the club fourth in the standings.

The former Chelsea player, who the Blues signed for €53 million in 2020, has suffered a couple of injury setbacks over the course of the season, but he finds himself behind both Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko in the pecking order.

It had been Sesko who was most closely associated with a January transfer to Man Utd, but according to The Mirror, Erik ten Hag’s side are studying the possibility of signing Werner.

Man Utd seeking bargain forward

Under Financial Fair Play restrictions and unlikely to spend big before Sir Jim Ratcliffe gets his recruitment team in place following his 25% takeover of the club, United are looking a signing a low-cost striker in January.

The Red Devils have been linked with several players, including Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy and Bayern Munich veteran Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, yet Werner is arguably the most surprising, despite the possibility of a loan deal being struck.

Werner has already endured a painful time in the Premier League with Chelsea, scoring just 10 goals across 56 matches in England’s top flight, during which time he earned the reputation of being wasteful in front of goal – exactly the type of forward that misfiring United could do without.

Man Utd are expected to invest heavily in their forward line in the summer, with Napoli striker Victor Osimhen one of the players continually linked with the Old Trafford club.

Should the Red Devils miss out on Champions League football next term, a fact that is looking a probability at this juncture as they sit eighth in the table, persuading Osimhen to sign for them in the summer could prove a difficult task.

Werner, meanwhile, is considered a similar player to Osimhen by data analytics experts SciSports, albeit he shows more characteristics of a mobile striker than his Napoli counterpart, who leans towards being a poacher.