Pundit Jamie Carragher has told Goal that he wanted to see Liverpool push through a deal to sign Chelsea-bund striker Timo Werner this summer.
For months, it looked like Liverpool were the favourites for Werner. Various reports touted him for a move to Anfield, having emerged as one of the top strikers in Europe.
Werner himself even told Goal in February that he thought he would fit in well at Liverpool. With a £52million release clause in his Leipzig deal, Liverpool were well-positioned to strike a deal.
With 31 goals and 13 assists in 42 games for Leipzig this season, Werner has consistently shown that he has the quality to make a real impact at Liverpool.
Unfortunately for Liverpool, the global pandemic struck. That has left them needing to be careful financially, with no income for around three months now.
Liverpool seemingly took the decision not to pay up for Werner, and Premier League rivals Chelsea have now swooped in to agree a deal for the German attacker.
Many Reds fans have been left hugely disappointed by missing out. Now, ex-Liverpool defender Carragher has admitted that he thinks Liverpool would have signed Werner if it wasn’t for the pandemic.
Carragher even thinks that suggestions Werner wouldn’t play much are wrong, believing that he would have made a real impact at Anfield and that Werner wanted to join the Reds.
“Without the pandemic, I’m sure Liverpool would have signed Werner,” said Carragher. “Everyone knows that Liverpool’s front three are as good as anything in the world right now, but Werner would have played a lot of games next season. There were suggestions that he was unsure over a move to Liverpool because he might not play every week, but look at what is coming up next season and it highlights why it would have been very difficult for Klopp to convince him to come and assure him that he would play a lot of matches. There was due to be an Olympics this summer and Mo Salah was due to play in that, which would have meant he missed the start of next season.”
“After that, Salah and Mane are due to play in the African Cup of Nations next February, which means Liverpool will need back-up players to play for long periods. That is before you throw in squad rotation and injuries. So there would have been opportunities for Timo Werner to play in the first team in a regular basis. He could have started 10 or 12 games guaranteed and you are talking about 25 or 30 games overall with everything I have mentioned. With the Olympics not happening this summer, doubts over whether the African Cup of Nations will go ahead and the financial hit Liverpool have taken due to the pandemic, the decision was made not to sign Werner, but I would like to have seen them push through with the deal. It clearly looked like the player wanted to come to Liverpool,” he added.
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