The New York Red Bulls’ negotiations with German striker Timo Werner remain ongoing, but the two parties remain a ways apart on salary specifics, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed with amNewYork on Wednesday.
German publication BILD was the first to report on the current stalemate between the 29-year-old and the MLS side.
New York’s current offer is a 2.5-year deal that would pay him roughly $4.6 million annually, but Werner wants significantly more per year. The German’s options are slim, though, as his current club, Bundesliga side Red Bull Leipzig — with whom he is signed through June of 2026 — has already threatened him to find a new club or else he will be barred from playing with the club while collecting his remaining $11.7 million.
As it stands, no other club has shown interest in Werner this summer.
Initial speculation suggested last week that the disparity in wages between Werner and the Red Bulls was threatening to destroy any negotiations, but continued dialogue conflicts with such rumors, at least for the time being.
Desperation from Werner to find a new club, though, could grease the wheels toward an agreement with New York. Becoming a star with Leipzig, including a 2019-20 campaign in which he recorded 34 goals in all competitions, he broke into the legendary German national team, where he earned 57 caps and scored 24 goals. That featured appearances in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2021 UEFA European Championships.
But Werner has not appeared with Germany since 2023, after a move to Chelsea in 2020 signaled a downturn in production. He scored 23 goals in two seasons with the London giants, including a UEFA Champions League winner’s medal, before being sold back to Leipzig.
While he scored 16 goals in 40 appearances across all competitions in 2022-23, he scored just twice in 14 matches the following season before getting loaned out to Premier League side Tottenham. The two-year experiment was a disaster, as he scored just three goals during that loan, which expired last month, and has Leipzig hoping to offload their once-superstar talent.
There is still time for Werner to return to those heights, but sitting on the sidelines and collecting a paycheck until next summer would certainly damage those prospects. A move to New York would not get him back on the national team any time soon, but it could at least promise a return of form and confidence that can be used as a stepping stone to getting back to Europe.
The last man to play for the senior German national team while actively playing in MLS was Lothar Matthaus, who did so in 2000 while a member of the New York/New Jersey Metrostars, now the Red Bulls.
