Transfer imminent: Werner travels back with RB Leipzig

Before his loan to Tottenham Hotspur, Timo Werner first traveled back to Germany with the team from RB Leipzig's training camp. The striker boarded the plane on Sunday morning in the Spanish south-east, where he spent a week at training camp with RB in La Manga. The move to London is nevertheless close to being finalized.

The 27-year-old international will be loaned out to England until the summer in order to gain match practice and recommend himself for the home European Championships. According to a Sky report, the deal includes a purchase option worth 18 million euros. This would allow Leipzig to sell Werner for almost the same €20 million for which they brought him back from Chelsea FC in the summer of 2022.

Werner was not included in Saturday's friendly against FC St. Gallen due to the impending transfer. Instead, he completed an athletics session on an adjacent pitch.

"Timo wants match practice, which I can't guarantee him at the moment. He wants to go to the European Championships and maybe it will help us if he comes back in top condition," said coach Marco Rose. "We'll keep our fingers crossed that he gets back on his feet and builds up his confidence."

Leipzig had recently assumed that the striker would not transfer in the winter. Werner is apparently hoping that a potential transfer will give him more playing time and therefore a better chance of taking part in the European Championships at home this year. He has lost his regular place at Leipzig, never started in the Champions League and only twice in the Bundesliga.

Werner already played for Chelsea FC from 2020 to 2022, who signed the attacker from Leipzig for 53 million euros. The Swabian returned to Saxony a year and a half ago, but has not proved to be the reinforcement that was hoped for since then.