RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo thinks Liverpool-linked Timo Werner should remain with the club as he is best suited to the Bundesliga, while also heaping praise on another in-demand team-mate in Dayot Upamecano.
A move to Anfield for the German seems more inevitable with each passing day, but his team-mate feels he should remain in familiar surroundings.
Werner was originally linked with a move to Bavarian giants Bayern Munich, a club renowned for poaching the best of the rest from the German top tier, but has flirted more than once with a move to Jurgen Klopp’s European champions in more recent times.
Leipzig managed to hold on to their star striker following Bayern’s advances last summer but the feeling now is that it is only a matter of time before Werner seeks a new challenge on the continent.
Anfield appears to be the preferred destination of the 24-year-old, who Olmo referred to in the past as an ‘aeroplane’, but the former Barcelona youth feels his free-scoring team-mate would be best served by staying put.
“He gives you a lot of options because he loves to move all over the pitch,” Olmo said in an exclusive interview with Goal. “He’s not a target man or a static striker, he likes to drift to the wings or drop into midfield to receive the ball and break the defensive line.
“He’s so fast and he has the killer instinct – he’s scored a lot this season. He’s a player that gives you a lot of opportunities in the way that he plays. I think the place that he fits best is Leipzig and the Bundesliga. He’s doing pretty well where he is.”
Another team-mate of Olmo’s who is regularly linked with a move elsewhere is Upamecano, with Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester United and, of course, Bayern all having been credited with interest at some point.
While there is a €60 million (£53m/$65m) release clause in the young centre-back’s contract, the player’s agent feels that could be too much for most teams to afford due to the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Leipzig, however, will be no doubt be unwilling to lose the 21-year-old on a free transfer, with his deal only running until 2021.
Whether Upamecano does move when the market reopens remains to be seen, but Olmo has enjoyed his experience alongside the player he refers to as ‘the future of France’ all the same.
“I love that player,” Olmo confessed. “I first met him in the Euro Under-21 semi-final and I realised he’s a strong, fast and aggressive player, very hard to beat, and he’s young like me – we were both born in 1998. He isn’t just a player for the future, but also for the present.”
Source: Goal.com
