RB Leipzig chief on Timo Werner's future: 'I basically can't exclude anything'
RB Leipzig chief Oliver Mintzlaff knows that it might not be possible to keep Timo Werner at the club until the end of his career.
Timo Werner committed himself to RB Leipzig last summer when he signed a new contract until 2023.
However, RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff is aware that the 23-year-old might want to move on to join a bigger club sooner or later.
"I feel the appreciation from him, and he seems to be comfortable here. I think his agent Karlheinz Förster is also very satisfied that we were so persistent and that we were able to find a solution that works for all parties. Timo knows that it was the right decision to stay under Julian [Nagelsmann]. But he also knows that he can still take the next step and join a big club sometime," Mintzlaff told Kicker and added:
"I could respond with a lot of cliches, but your readers would find that tedious. And if I say nothing at all, it's also unsatisfactory. All I can say is that I basically can't exclude anything.
"Although a lot of money is at stake and we always try to do what's best for the club, we are aware that we are dealing with people who are working on their own careers. If we can no longer offer the player a platform to move forward, we have to discuss the situation fairly. So far, however, we have always moved on a platform on which there has been and is no reason to let Timo Werner go," Mintzlaff said.
According to reports, Werner's contract includes a buyout clause which will start at €60 million in the summer of 2020 and drop from year to year.
The German international has been in red-hot form this season, scoring 23 goals in 25 games so far.