Man Utd 'emerge' as 'contenders' to sign former Chelsea star just 18 months after Stamford Bridge departure

Manchester United are in the market to sign a centre forward in the January transfer window to boost their hopes of once again qualifying for the Champions League.

The Red Devils have scored just 16 goals from their opening 13 league games this season, which leaves them 12th in the goalscoring charts behind Wolves and Brentford and level with Nottingham Forest.

Much of the focus this season has been on the misfiring Marcus Rashford who recently ended a eight-game goal scoring drought in his side’s most recent 3-0 victory over Everton. Summer recruit Rasmus Hojlund is still waiting for his first goal in the Premier League after a nine-game drought.

Sky Sports Germany has reported that the Red Devils have made enquiries about a number of potential options in January and one of those names appears to be RB Leipzig star Timo Werner. Werner has previously played in the Premier League for Chelsea and he arrived in England with great expectations after a £45m move to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2020.

The German international was known for his blistering speed and excellent goalscoring form for RB Leipzig in his first spell which saw him become the club’s all-time leading goalscorer with 78 goals in 127 league matches across four seasons. Werner struggled to translate that form to Chelsea and fired in just six goals from 35 league appearances - although aspects of his all round game were praised as he provided eight assists.

The 27-year-old’s Champions League form proved to be his saving grace in his first season and his four goals from 12 matches - including a semi-final strike against Real Madrid bought him time to endear himself to the Chelsea faithful as the Blues became European champions.

However, Werner’s form continued to derail for Chelsea in his second season and he was limited to just 21 appearances and four goals before his return to RB Leipzig. Many hoped that Werner would carry on where he left off in Germany, but so far his homecoming has not been what he would have imagined and he has managed a combined 11 goals in 35 appearances across two seasons.

Werner appears to be an increasingly peripheral figure at Leipzig this season and has only managed 203 minutes of football with Benjamin Sesko, Lois Openda and Xavi Simons all keeping him out of the team.

Despite his drop in form, it appears that Ten Hag is an admirer of the striker who could provide further competition for Rashford, Antony Martial and Hojlund. 90min reports that United could also face competition from Fulham and Crystal Palace who are targeting replacements for Alexander Mitrovic and Wilfried Zaha respectively.