How Werner almost joined Bayern before moving to Chelsea

Stefan Bienkowski

• 24 Sept 2021 10:40 BST
• 3 min read

Bayern Munich have been heavily linked with a move for Chelsea striker Timo Werner for a number of months now.

After a rather underwhelming first season in London, Werner was then knocked off his peg by the signing of Romelu Lukaku in the summer.

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And while that may not mean the end of Werner’s career, it hasn’t stopped the player being linked with a return to the Bundesliga, where he could perhaps pick up regular game time.

However, a new report from Der Spiegel now suggests Bayern were far closer to signing the striker before he stepped foot in Stamford Bridge.

Did Bayern almost sign Werner before he joined Chelsea?

According to the German publication’s report, new documents have been revealed that suggest Werner had already agreed to join the Bavarian giants before he left RB Leipzig in 2020.

Due to a court case between two agents taking place in Germany, Der Spiegel were able to get their hands on files that showed a “temporary” agreement being made between Werner and Bayern in the 2018/19 season which would have seen the striker then make the move to Munich in 2020.

Apparently, such a deal would have gone through if not for Werner catching wind of a lack of interest from then manager Niko Kovac and the sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, which then encouraged the player to cancel the move.

As such, Werner never made his move to Bayern and then a number of months later, Chelsea came calling and eventually signed the player for no less than £47.7 million in 2020.

Could Werner end up joining Bayern now?

In a remarkable twist of fate, Werner could now end up joining Bayern next season if Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is unable to get the best out of the forward or simply decides to move on to other options in his squad.

If the Germany international has another lacklustre campaign, he’ll surely be put up for sale and there won’t be a lack of potential suitors for his signature - particularly in the Bundesliga, where a number of clubs will remember how prolific he was at Leipzig.

Whether that means a move to Bayern remains to be seen, but the player would certainly be looking for more reassurances from Julian Nagelsmann than he reportedly had from Kovac a few years ago.