This chapter of the Timo Werner saga appears to be coming to an unfulfilling close for the New York Red Bulls. Multiple sources suggest that an agreement, as of Wednesday afternoon, appears unlikely before Major League Soccer’s secondary transfer window slams shut on Thursday unless one of the two parties involved relents to the other’s wishes.
Whether or not this completely closes the door on Werner potentially making the jump to the MLS side remains unknown, as any agreement now could not be completed until after the 2025 season.
Werner, the 29-year-old former German international, and his representation have been in talks with the Red Bulls at varying points over the last year after falling out of favor with New York’s sister club, RB Leipzig of the German Bundesliga.
There has been a long-standing mutual interest, and the conditions have been perfect for something to get done.
Werner is coming off a disastrous loan with English Premier League side Tottenham, and he has nowhere else to go. Leipzig has made it clear that he will not play for them in 2025-26, which is the final year of his contract.
The Red Bulls have an open designated player spot and need a legitimate shot in the arm to jolt a team that has sagged since making a run to the MLS Cup Final in December. They currently sit in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and are outside the MLS playoff picture.
But the sides have failed to agree on salary, which appears to be the only thing holding up handshakes. Werner is making approximately $11.6 million this season, and the Red Bulls’ 2.5-year offer falls short of that. A source told amNewYork in early July that the Red Bulls’ offer was at $4.6 million annually, though it is unknown if they increased that number since then.
Now, it appears that Werner is content to simply sit out this season and collect his Leipzig paycheck, which makes the prospect of finding a new home next year all the more difficult.
New York could revisit taking a flyer on him, but that would make it nearly one year — at the very minimum — in which Werner has played competitive soccer, and questions about his sharpness would be overwhelmingly prevalent.
Still, his acquisition would have provided an immeasurable surge to a Red Bulls team that has been stuck in neutral without star winger Lewis Morgan for most of the season. The Scottish international is slated to return early next month, and pairing him with Werner would have made New York a considerable force for the final stretch of the regular season.
Now, Red Bulls head of sport Jochen Schneider is potentially left with just two notable signings during the transfer window in Swedish midfielder Gustav Berggren and 19-year-old Costa Rican forward Andy Rojas — an underwhelming haul when a player of Werner’s track record was on the table.
