Werner would rather go abroad than sign for Bayern

He's still just 24, but Timo Werner seems to have been the subject of more transfer rumors than the rest of the Germany squad combined. 

Now the RB Leipzig frontman has narrowed the field slightly by saying he'd prefer to move abroad if he leaves the Red Bulls.

"It's just that the challenge in another league would appeal to me a little more than a transfer within the Bundesliga," he told German daily Bild in an interview published on Saturday. 

"Bayern are a great club. We don't need to talk about it. And Hansi Flick has proven this season that he's a really good coach. But if a transfer should ever become an issue, I would rather move abroad than to Bayern," Werner continued.

"It's just that the challenge in another league would appeal to me a little more than a transfer within the Bundesliga." 

Prolific season draws PL interest

Werner had hit 21 goals in 25 league games before the Bundesliga season was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. However, his RB Leipzig contract is believed to contain a release clause, which expires in the coming months. 

Premier League side Chelsea have been linked with Werner, but Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool are widely believed to be in the driving seat.

"There’s one of the best managers in the world with Jurgen Klopp, and he is also German," Werner said earlier this year. "Many things suggest that I would maybe fit in [at Liverpool] very well with my playing style."

But in both interviews, the former Stuttgart striker has said he's by no means desperate to leave Leipzig, who have enjoyed a good campaign domestically and in Europe under rising coaching star Julian Nagelsmann.

"I really appreciate what I have at RB Leipzig and would therefore never say, 'I absolutely have to get out of here,'" he told Bild.

Could he stay put?

Werner's former Leipzig coach and sports director Ralf Rangnick said he "would be happy" if his former charge stayed put.

"I know his family and that of his girlfriend and his advisor very well. He has improved again, especially his scoring rate, and could take another step with his teammates under Julian Nagelsmann," Rangnick told the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

It's not entirely clear whether Werner's preference to play abroad will come as a blow to Bayern, who seemed to have turned their attention to Manchester City's Leroy Sane. 

It's also not clear just what football's transfer market will look like when the sport eventually returns, in whatever form, from its hiatus. But it does seem certain that, eventually, the sport's transfer market will grind back into gear, and Werner will be a man in demand.