Chelsea player Antonio Rudiger has reached out to Germany teammate Timo Werner to convince him to reject Liverpool and Manchester United and move to the Bridge instead.
The RB Leipzig striker is one of Europe’s most in-demand players, with the Reds believed to be at the front of the queue after Klopp spoke to the player on a Zoom call.
But, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Liverpool are no longer willing to pay up Werner’s £50m release clause and value him at around £30m.
That has reopened the door for clubs like United – with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keen to improve his attack – but Chelsea have also emerged as a contender for the signing of Werner.
According to SportBild, Rudiger is close friends with Werner and has been messaging the German to try and convince him to move to Chelsea.
The duo played together at Stuttgart until 2015, when Rudiger joined Roma on loan, and have remained close, also teaming up with the Germany national side and winning the Confederations Cup together.
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Werner has been in outstanding form for Leipzig once again this campaign, scoring 24 goals in 28 Bundesliga games, while he has also made seven assists.
He has previously hinted that he is ready to leave Bundesliga for a new challenge and is interested in moving to the Premier League.
‘A challenge in a foreign league would appeal to me rather than a move to Bayern,’ he told Bild this month.
Chelsea boss Lampard is believed to be eager to sign more firepower this summer, with Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi both surplus to requirements despite the France international signing a contract extension.
Lampard wants cover and competition for Tammy Abraham and Werner would be the perfect player, while he would bring much-needed goals with Chelsea’s second highest scorer, Mason Mount, only scoring six goals.
