Ex-Chelsea star's transfer inevitable after Messi's Inter Miami request

Tom Weber

• Updated: 5 Dec 2025 13:08 GMT
• 5 min read

News

Former Chelsea forward Timo Werner is expected to leave RB Leipzig for Major League Soccer, but there are conflicting reports about whether he will link up with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami.

The ex-Germany international is all but guaranteed to leave RB Leipzig in the January transfer window after only playing one minute of football so far this season.

Leipzig already wanted to offload Werner and his sizeable salary in the summer, but the 29-year-old turned down a move to the New York Red Bulls, leaving him stranded in Saxony.

Current ETV

Timo Werner

F, M, AM (L)

RB Leipzig

Timo Werner

F, M, AM (L)

RB Leipzig

€3.6M

ETV Range

€2.8M - €4.3M

View full profile

After repeatedly being told that he is surplus to requirements, Werner has now seen the writing on the wall and is actively exploring a January exit. According to Sky Germany, he is on his way to MLS after all.

Recent reports suggested that Lionel Messi had personally requested that Inter Miami sign the forward, and the German outlet backs up that discussions with David Beckham's franchise have taken place.

Werner not an option for Miami

However, the information regarding a potential move to Florida is conflicting. MLS transfer insider Tom Bogert of The Athletic reports that claims of Werner holding serious talks with Miami are 'wide of the mark,' with one source insisting that he is not an option for the club at all.

It must be said that a move to Miami would indeed be quite surprising. The Eastern Conference champions will certainly be attentive to big-name opportunities like Werner, Neymar and Antoine Griezmann, who has again reiterated his desire to head stateside.

However, whether this is really the course of action the club should be taking is up for debate. If this year's MLS playoffs have shown anything, then that Miami's best bet is to have quick attackers who can do the running for 38-year-old superstar Messi.

With veteran striker Luis Suarez first suspended and then benched by head coach Javier Mascherano, Miami's recipe for success has been using Tadeo Allende and Mateo Silvetti as runners beyond Messi.

If anything, Miami's priorities in the market should be finding suitable replacements for Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets. Both will retire at the end of the year despite still being arguably too good for MLS. Alba, in particular, has been incredible recently despite his advanced age.

Fabrizio Romano has reported that Alba will be replaced with former Man Utd left-back Sergio Reguillon, but Sky Germany claims that the Philadelphia Union's Kai Wagner, a standout full-back in MLS in recent years, is also being considered.

Neither is likely to take up a Designated Player (DP) spot, which means that Miami will be able to bring in one more big-money signing. From a PR perspective, the player in question should be a flashy attacker, but Mascherano may feel that this money would be better spent on an elite holding midfielder to replace Busquets.

Rodrigo de Paul will take Busquets' spot as a DP, but while the Argentine has boundless energy, he is not a like-for-like replacement for the Spaniard, who has been so crucial to Miami's play since following Messi to the US.

Spending big on a Busquets-like player may therefore be the smarter thing to do than signing another ageing big-name forward.

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