It was certainly an interview to excite Liverpool supporters.
Having given RB Leipzig a first-leg advantage in their Champions League last-16 tie with Tottenham, Timo Werner was asked about his summer plans by the former Norway striker Jan-Aage Fjortoft on Viasport Football. And, more specifically, about whether a move to Anfield could be on the cards.
The question drew a smile and a nod of the head. Speculation in Germany has intensified in recent weeks, and Werner’s answer will do little to squash it.
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"I know that Liverpool is the best team in the world at the moment," the striker said. "And when you're linked with that team it makes me very proud.”
Perhaps more tellingly, though, was what came next.
"It's a pleasure,” Werner added. “But I know that Liverpool have a lot of good players and I have to improve myself, to learn much more things to get on this level to play there."
Impressive humility from the 23-year-old, especially how his night had gone.
Werner’s second-half penalty against Spurs puts Leipzig in a strong position to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time, and if you were wondering why he is held in such high regard among Europe’s elite clubs, there were plenty of signs in his all-round performance in north London.
Liverpool have certainly noticed him. Werner is one of the names on the club’s shortlist of transfer targets, as they look for ways to improve Jurgen Klopp’s all-conquering squad this summer.
Klopp’s hero growing up was Karlheinz Forster, a hard-nosed German international defender. Forster, a legend at Klopp’s boyhood club Stuttgart, just happens to be Werner’s agent. Sources in Germany have already suggested that Liverpool, rather than Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, would be the player’s preferred destination this summer.
Statistically, this is already his best-ever season, and there are three months of it remaining. He has 20 goals in 22 Bundesliga appearances, with Leipzig very much in the mix for trophies. This summer, he will lead the line for Germany at Euro 2020.
The presence of a release clause, reported to be €50 million (£42m/$54m), adds to Werner’s appeal – especially given the prices being touted for other in-demand attacking players such as Jadon Sancho or Jack Grealish. Werner’s pedigree, as a forward with close to 100 Bundesliga goals and 29 caps for his country, is strong.
Style-wise, too, it seems to fit. Liverpool’s preference is always for quick, versatile forward players with good movement, durability and strong physical attributes. Those are, you could say, the Klopp staples.
Werner ticks most boxes: he scores goals, he connects with his team-mates, he runs in behind (no player has been caught offside more times in Europe’s top five leagues this season), he is rarely injured and he is able to operate anywhere across the forward line.
He also, as demonstrated in that Viasport interview, understands the need for training, development and improvement. Sources in Germany say his work ethic is impressive, to say the least. The question, then, is not of suitability, more of opportunity.
Do Liverpool have space for a player with Werner’s pedigree and ambition?
Can the European, world and soon-to-be English champions offer enough evidence that he will start games?
And how would the player adjust to a change in club, culture, country and, as importantly as anything else, status?
These are the issues under consideration at Anfield.
Klopp’s front three are going nowhere this summer – there was bemusement when Roberto Firmino was linked with Bayern Munich recently, while Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are world-class players in the prime of their careers and will not be allowed to leave.
Any new attacking recruit knows the limelight will not be his alone. That isn’t easy.
Divock Origi has, over the past 12 months or so, proven an ideal impact substitute, but even the Belgian’s patience has a limit.
Origi has made 26 appearances in the Premier League and Champions League this season, but only six of them have been starts. He’s 25 in April, and will surely need to consider his long-term options at some point – perhaps even this summer.
The same goes for Xherdan Shaqiri, whose appearances this season have been even more limited.
The Swiss star has been beset by injuries of late, but even before that he was struggling to get into Klopp’s side. In the last 12 months, he has started just three Premier League or Champions League games, and if Liverpool were to get an offer of £30m ($38.5m) in the summer, Shaqiri would be allowed to leave.
Likewise Harry Wilson, who is proving himself as a Premier League player on loan at Bournemouth, and Marko Grujic, whose second season at Hertha Berlin has been a mixed one.
Good footballers, for sure, just not quite good enough for Liverpool. Teenagers Curtis Jones, Rhian Brewster and Harvey Elliott may prove to be, but we may not know for a year or two at least.
Werner’s case is different. As Germany’s first-choice centre forward, he absolutely IS good enough for the top level. His form this season – and you can add four goals in seven Champions League outings to his Bundesliga exploits – proves that.
Whether he is prepared to bide his time behind Salah, Mane and Firmino, though, is another matter. But if he is, then back Liverpool to get the deal done.
