Tottenham ‘expected’ to complete €20m Bundesliga signing this summer despite alarm bells already sounding

RB Leipzig are fully ‘expecting’ Tottenham to activate a purchase option in Timo Werner’s loan deal at the end of the season, despite his up and down performances so far.

Werner moved to north London on loan until the end of the season in the January transfer window, heading back to the Premier League after his largely disappointing period at Chelsea.

The Germany international joined the Blues in the summer of 2020 and went on to 23 goals in 89 appearances, winning the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup.

But after returning to Leipzig, he found himself down the pecking order and was not really featuring this season. And with Werner still pushing for a place in the Germany squad for Euro 2024, he decided a high-profile move back to London could give his hopes a major lift.

The winger has notched two assists so far in five outings for Ange Postecoglou’s side but is yet to score a goal. And while Werner has once again got himself in some promising positions with his pace and movement, his finishing continues to be by far the weakest part of his game.

But despite that, SportBILD reports that Leipzig believe the German will be extending his stay with Tottenham beyond the summer.

The report adds that the Bundesliga side are receiving signals from Spurs that they are happy with the player and, to that end, are ‘expecting’ them to spend €20m to turn his loan into a permanent switch.

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Son return a potential blow for Werner

However, there remains a major reason that may not happen and that comes in the form of Son Heung-min now being back from the Asia Cup.

Werner was largely brought in to fill the void left by Son’s involvement with South Korea and mostly did a decent job in that regard.

The Spurs skipper added an immediate injection of quality when he replaced Werner in Saturday’s win over Brighton and set up Brennan Johnson’s late winner.

To that end, Werner will almost certainly find himself watching on from the bench when Tottenham host Wolves on Saturday, especially with Richarlison proving to be much more of a goal threat through centrally now.

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Indeed, Werner may be feeding off scraps for the remainder of the season, especially with Johnson also relegated to bench duty after James Maddison’s return -allowing Dejan Kulusevski to return to his normal position on the right flank in the process.

Saturday’s clash with Wolves will give Tottenham the chance to try and cement their place in the top four, where they currently have a one-point lead over Aston Villa.