It's been revealed that Chelsea striker Timo Werner was on course to sign for Bayern Munich last summer but backed out because he was unsure that the club's manager and sporting director were keen on the transfer.
That's according to a report by Der Spiegel, as captured by Bild, which claims the 25 year old had agreed the move back in the 2018/19 season, when he was still in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig.
"As SPIEGEL writes, after Werner "reluctantly signed," he found out that the then Bayern coach Niko Kovač and sports director Hasan Salihamidžić were against a commitment," the report reads. "The then still governing President Uli Hoeneß had finalized the contract.
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"Timo Werner and FC Bayern Munich left requests from SPIEGEL unanswered. A lawyer wrote for Förster that his client "generally" does not urge customers to sign contracts.
"In the summer of 2020, the striker moved from RB Leipzig to London. But according to a report by "SPIEGEL", he is said to have signed a contract with FC Bayern during the 2018/19 season. This is said to have ended again afterwards. BILD information also confirmed these reports.
"This failed change became public through a million dollar dispute between the two advisors Karlheinz Förster (63) and Murat Lokurlu (45), which is to be heard in court on September 28th. The national players Timo Werner and Niklas Süle (26 / Bayern) were drawn into this."
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Despite not making the move to the Allianz Arena back then, Werner continues to be linked with a move to the German giants.
Earlier this month, German TV channel Sport1 reported that there is a '70% chance' that the Champions League winner will reunite with former manager Julian Nagelsmann at the Bundesliga champions sooner rather than later.
That said, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel has expressed a desire to keep Werner, who netted his first goal of the season in midweek.
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"I am sure that we will find games and solutions where we play with both of them (Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku)," the former Borussia Dortmund boss said following the win against Tottenham last Sunday.
"Timo and Romelu can be a good fit together. Timo loves to play around a reference up front and Romelu clearly is our reference up front being a tall and physical player.
"We have not too many players but we have players with high quality and high ambition and Timo is clearly a guy that we count on and that is absolutely necessary we have him on high level."
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With less than 4 months until the January transfer window, expect to hear more of this rumour throughout the winter.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, Timo Werner, Premier League, Bayern Munich, Julian Nagelsmann, Bundesliga