By Sam Preston

United fans react to surprise links to Timo Werner

Manchester United have been linked with a shock January transfer swoop for Chelsea’s Timo Werner.

Head of Football at German outlet Bild Christian Falk claims Werner is among Ralf Rangnick’s January targets.

There is a lot to unpack here. Rangnick having worked with Werner previously at RB Leipzig adds some potential credibility.

But the German has also not even got his work permit or visa through yet. Has he really started looking at transfer targets already?

Falk also got it wrong over initial links between Rangnick and United. Is he more accurate on this one? Fans could be forgiven for some skepticism.

There is also the issue of Werner’s form since he left Leipzig and went to Chelsea.

He has struggled to find his feet and while his running off the ball has been useful for Thomas Tuchel, his finishing is erratic.

Would Thomas Tuchel really sell a player to a domestic rival mid-season? It would be reasonable to have doubts.

Are there any positives? Well, Werner looked a hugely dangerous and prolific forward when he was playing in Rangnick’s style of football.

ESPN reported in March 2020 that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to bring him to Old Trafford.

On paper, that looked a good move at the time. On this site, we wrote on more than one occasion that Werner would be a good signing.

Obviously, Werner’s form at Chelsea cannot be ignored and it will colour the reaction of many fans to the reports.

But not everyone who saw the links on Twitter immediately dismissed them and here is how they went down…

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Sam Preston

Sam Preston is an NCTJ gold standard news and sports journalist who studied with the Press Association. He also has a 2:1 law with French law degree from the University of Birmingham, which included a year studying at Bordeaux Montaigne University. He is an FA Level 1 football coach who appeared on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show in 2018 and has also written digital football content and match-day programme pieces for Colchester United, Mansfield Town and Stockport County.