Transfer Centre

How Liverpool could line up with Timo Werner

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 23 April 2020

Sports Mole looks at how Liverpool could line up with Timo Werner amid reports that the RB Leipzig striker has agreed to join the club.

The Timo Werner transfer saga has already been one of the longest-running and most talked-about deals long before the 2020-21 window has even opened.

The Germany international has enjoyed another prolific campaign for RB Leipzig, directly contributing to 39 goals from just 36 games across all competitions.

Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are among the clubs to have been linked with the 24-year-old, but Liverpool are understood to hold the strongest interest having identified him as their number one target.

Recent reports have suggested that Werner has now agreed to join Jurgen Klopp's European champions at the end of the season, and here Sports Mole looks at how the Reds could line up with the striker in their ranks.

The main question will clearly be where Werner fits in to a frontline already regarded as one of the best in world football.

Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino have all been linked with moves away from Anfield in recent months, but it is unlikely that any of them will actually leave, meaning that Werner's arrival will be as an addition to that fearsome trio rather than as a replacement for one of them.

The most obvious solution would be to switch from a 4-3-3 formation to a 4-2-3-1 system, which Klopp has regularly used during his time as Liverpool boss, often when 'Plan A' has not been working as he would hope.

Such a change would enable Liverpool to squeeze all four forwards into their starting XI, with Firmino dropping into the number 10 role which he often occupies anyway.

If one of them were to miss out for any reason then it would be a fairly straightforward switch back to 4-3-3, particularly as Werner is also capable of playing out wide.

However, this would require a change in their style of play as well as their shape; Werner is a very different forward to Firmino in that he likes to play on the shoulder and has searing pace to get in behind the defence.

Firmino dropping deeper usually creates that space for Mane and Salah to make their runs down the channels, but with a permanent number nine it may be that there is less room for the two wingers to exploit.

Making sure all four star forwards start also means that a position has to be made free from elsewhere in the team - in this case midfield.

Liverpool have plenty of competition for places in this area, but Fabinho is one of the best in the world at breaking up play while captain Jordan Henderson has underlined his importance to the team time after time during their record-breaking 2019-20 campaign.

It could be that Georginio Wijnaldum is the unfortunate man to miss out in a full-strength XI, then, while the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and James Milner may also see first-team chances harder to come by.