The Insider: How Chelsea signed Timo Werner ahead of Europe’s elite

Chelsea beat off competition from Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Juventus to sign one of the best players in the world

It’s London calling for Timo Werner after the Germany striker signed terms with Chelsea – Kaveh Solhekol explains how this massive deal materialised

According to one agent, Chelsea have just signed a £100m player for £50m.

Timo Werner is one of the best forwards in the world and in normal circumstances he would be moving to England for a Premier League record fee.

But these are not normal circumstances.

The pandemic and a relatively low release clause mean Chelsea have been able to pull off a deal they had little chance of completing just a few months ago.

Last summer, Werner almost joined Bayern Munich for €30m (£27m). Not everyone at Bayern was convinced they should buy him though and he ended up signing a contract extension at RB Leipzig with a €50m (£45m) release clause which ran out on Monday.

It was an open secret in Germany this would be his final season in Leipzig. The Red Bull organisation’s football business strategy is to develop young players and sell them on and it has paid off handsomely with Werner. They signed him from Stuttgart for €10m (£9m) and they are making a €40m (£36m) profit four years later.

And what a four years it has been.

Werner has scored 93 times and counting and it is not just Bayern and Chelsea who have been trying to sign him. Up until the pandemic, it was almost certain he would be moving to Liverpool.

Werner looked set for Liverpool…so why didn’t it happen?

Liverpool appeared to be leading the race to sign Werner prior to the coronavirus pandemic

Werner had spoken to Jurgen Klopp on the telephone earlier this year and he had been impressed by what he had heard.

In television interviews in February, he could scarcely have been more complimentary about Klopp and Liverpool. He said Klopp was the best manager in the world and Liverpool were the best side in the world.

He told his agent that as far as he was concerned, he wanted to move to a Champions League club where he could play regularly. At Liverpool, he would have been guaranteed Champions League football and crucially he was willing to fight for a place in a side which already included Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and…