Leipzig boss Tedesco reacts to Timo Werner link, says Bayern target Laimer wants 'clarity'

Timo Werner and RB Leipzig had a sublime game for four joyous years, but the Bundesliga club are reluctant to say whether they want to rekindle the relationship.

Leipzig head coach Domenico Tedesco was asked about the prospect of re-signing Werner when addressing a press conference on Thursday, and gave absolutely no encouragement to the idea.

He also hasn't discouraged the idea, indicating that a reunion may be on the cards but far from certain to occur.

Werner might believe he has countless escape routes from Chelsea if he reads the gossip columns, with Juventus also linked with him in recent days.

Two years with Chelsea could be enough for Werner, whose involvement dwindled last season and whose Premier League goalscoring return fell far short of expectations.

By adding Raheem Sterling to their squad, Chelsea have brought in a player who plays a similar role to Werner - a goal threat down the flanks with a steady pace - and appears to be a regular starter for Thomas Tuchel.

Tedesco said: "Timo Werner is not my player, not our player. He is a Chelsea player and I have a very clear opinion on that, don't comment, don't take a position on players who don't belong to us, who aren't under contract with us. I think it has something to do with respect. And that's just an important principle that I've set myself."

Pressed to know if he could confirm Leipzig's interest in the German striker, Tedesco said: "No, I can't. I can't, because as I said, I stand by that. , he's a Chelsea FC player and everything else has become superfluous."

Werner scored 34 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions in his final season at Leipzig, scoring a goal every 105.53 minutes. At Chelsea, he has managed 23 goals in 89 appearances so far.

Leipzig may be keen to sell a player to fund any bid for Werner, with Konrad Laimer repeatedly linked in the German media with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

But it's not the case that Leipzig particularly want to lose another important figure to Bayern, after coach Julian Nagelsmann and key first-team figures Marcel Sabitzer and Dayot Upamecano traveled to Munich last year.

"[Laimer] is our player, is my player and I'm happy he's my player," Tedesco said.

"And as long as there is nothing else, he has my full support, he is treated the same as any other player. And of course it is also clear that the more that drags on, the harder it will be to do it at any given time, so time is on our side because, as you rightly said, there is no time limit."

Tedesco is not ignoring the speculation surrounding Laimer, however, and said the Austrian midfielder "is also of the opinion that he would like to have some clarification at some point".

Leipzig take on Bayern in the DFB-Supercup on Saturday, and Tedesco believes the German champions are collectively stronger for the new season than they were 12 months ago, despite losing the striker star Robert Lewandowski in Barcelona.

Sadio Mane, Ryan Gravenberch, Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt arrived at Bayern, and Tedesco said: "They've been flexible before. But of course that's another story because I think they will miss Lewandowski. Not just in this game but in general since he scored a lot of goals for them.

"But they got stronger and I think they have a stronger team than last year."