Timo Werner rules out transfer to Bayern Munich this summer

Speaking to Sky after Leipzig’s 0-0 draw in Stuttgart this Sunday (via Sport1), dynamic German striker Timo Werner publicly addressed rumors of a transfer this summer for the first time. It is not good news for Bayern Munich.

Asked whether he will see out his current contract with RB Leipzig, Werner replied, “I have a contract until 2022 and feel very comfortable in Leipzig.”

Sky followed up by asking whether he would then play for Leipzig until the end of his contract. No one, naturally, expects Werner to stay in Leipzig until 2022, but his response gave unexpected clarity about the immediate future:

I’m definitely playing here next year.

Presuming that Werner does not have a change of heart, that is very good news for fans of Leipzig—who are bracing themselves for the loss of Naby Keita to Liverpool—and bad news for Bayern, who need a dynamic attacker now to reinforce their offense. The club is still weighing whether and in what form they may extend their aging wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, and Werner would have been perhaps the ideal replacement for Robert Lewandowski, should Bayern decide to strike a deal for him.