‘That’s a wind-up surely?’ – Man Utd warned off striker amid claims an ex-Chelsea player is ‘going to sign’
Former Aston Villa and Liverpool striker Dean Saunders is baffled at rumours linking Man Utd with a move for ex-Chelsea striker Timo Werner.
The Red Devils are currently showing incredibly inconsistent form in the Premier League with Erik ten Hag overseeing a nightmare second season in England.
Ten Hag led Man Utd to an FA Cup final, League Cup silverware and a top-four finish in the Premier League during his first season – but he has failed to build on that promising campaign.
Instead, Man Utd are out of the Champions League and League Cup, while they are drifting in the Premier League with their latest 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest seeing them fall down to eighth in the league standings.
The Red Devils are now closer to 13th-placed Fulham than fourth-placed Arsenal, who are currently nine points ahead of Ten Hag’s side in the race for the top four.
Scoring goals has been a struggle in the Premier League for Man Utd this season with Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund and Anthony Martial scoring a combined five goals so far.
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And that has led to lots of speculation that Man Utd are keen to bring in attacking reinforcements with a striker one of their priorities for the January transfer window.
The Athletic claimed in an article on Tuesday that ‘contact’ has been made with RB Leipzig by Man Utd in order to ‘check on the potential cost’ of a deal to bring Werner to Old Trafford in the winter.
Werner had a disappointing time at Chelsea in his last spell in the Premier League with the Germany international scoring 18 goals in 54 matches in all competitions for the Blues.
Responding to the rumours on talkSPORT, Saunders said: “Man United? I mean, that’s up there with Sir Dave Brailsford going in and making decisions, a cycling expert. I mean it’s just one after another, that’s a wind-up surely. They’re going to sign Timo Werner?”
Saunders added: “Well he had knack of missing chances, didn’t he? Every time he got one at Chelsea, which is not a very good thing to have as a striker, but he did.
“His movement is excellent, quick, but he had a knack of missing every time he got in on goal. What are you excepting from him? If you sign a winger-come-striker, like a forward they call them now, goals and assists, that’s what you’re out there for.
“If you’re not doing that, work your socks off, stay in the team and do something the other way for us. He doesn’t make many and he doesn’t score many, and you’re going to have to pay him a fortune.”
