Timo Werner and RB Leipzig made for a sublime match over four joyful 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 he addressed a news conference on Thursday, and gave the idea absolutely no encouragement.
Nor did he discourage the idea, though, which points to a reunion possibly being under consideration but far from certain to happen.
Werner might believe he has endless escape routes from Chelsea if he reads the gossip columns, with Juventus also linked with him in recent days.
Two years with Chelsea might be enough for Werner, whose involvement decreased last season and whose goal return in the Premier League has fallen far short of expectations.
By adding Raheem Sterling to their squad, Chelsea have brought in a player who performs a similar role to Werner – a goal threat from the flanks with a sharp turn of pace – and looks sure to be a regular starter for Thomas Tuchel.
Tedesco said: "Timo Werner is not my player, not our player. He's a Chelsea player and I have a very clear opinion on that, not to comment, not to take a position on players who don't belong to us, who aren't under contract with us. I think that has something to do with respect. And it is simply an important principle that I have established for myself."
Pressed on whether he could confirm any interest from Leipzig at all in the Germany forward, 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 games across all competitions in his final season at Leipzig, at a rate of one every 105.53 minutes. At Chelsea, he has managed 23 goals in 89 appearances so far.
Leipzig may wish to sell a player to fund any offer for Werner, with Konrad Laimer repeatedly linked in German media with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
But it is not the case that Leipzig particularly want to lose another significant figure to Bayern, after coach Julian Nagelsmann and first-team key figures Marcel Sabitzer and Dayot Upamecano went to Munich last year.
"[Laimer] is our player, is my player and I am happy that he is my player," said Tedesco.
"And as long as there is nothing else, he has my full support, is treated the same as any other player. And of course it's also clear that the longer this drags on, the more difficult it will be to do that at some point. So time is in our favour because, as you rightly said, there is no deadline."
Tedesco is not ignorant of the speculation surrounding Laimer, however, and said the Austrian midfielder "is also of the opinion that he would like to have clarity at some point".
Leipzig face Bayern in the DFB-Supercup on Saturday, and Tedesco believes the German champions are collectively more powerful going into the new season than they were 12 months ago, despite losing star striker Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona.
Sadio Mane, Ryan Gravenberch, Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt have arrived at Bayern, and Tedesco said: "They have been flexible before. But of course, this is a different story because I think that Lewandowski will be missed by them. Not just in this game but in general since he scored a lot of goals for them.
"But they have reinforced themselves and I think that they have a stronger squad than last year."
KC, JC through to Manning Cup semis as champs Mona booted
A new ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup champion will be crowned after Kingston College (KC) registered a decisive 2-0 victory over reigning titleholders Mona High in their Group A quarterfinal showdown at Stadium East on Friday.
Kvist Paul (8th) and Demario Dailey (70th) did the damage for Kingston College in a win that not only ended Mona's campaign but also propelled the North Street-based team into the semifinals alongside Jamaica College (JC), who trounced Tivoli High 4-0 in a simultaneous fixture at the Ashenheim Stadium.
By virtue of the results, Jamaica College topped the group on seven points, one point ahead of Kingston College (six points), while Tivoli High (three points) and Mona High (one point) will now turn their focus to the Walker Cup knockout competition for redemption.
Kingston College’s Head coach, Vassell Reynolds, lauded his team's composure and execution.
"It was a fantastic performance. We knew Mona would come out strong, but the boys stuck to the game plan and delivered when it mattered. Now, we look ahead to the semifinals, but as always, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. The aim is to keep the boys grounded and focused, and we will see what happens when that time comes,” Reynolds said.
With a lot at stake for Mona in particular heading into the contest, it was expected to be a close affair, but the manner in which Kingston College started ensured otherwise.
In fact, Mona had very little say in the contest as Kingston College’s show of intent resulted in an early strike inside 10 minutes. Damaine Smith delivered a perfectly placed corner kick, which Paul rose to meet and headed past Mona's goalkeeper, Riquelme Edwards.
Mona High, desperate to respond, almost found themselves further behind in the 15th minute when Dailey fired wide from a promising position.
As Mona struggled to contain Kingston College’s tactical discipline and attacking enterprise, Deshawn Byfield almost added his name to the scoresheet but had his effort dramatically cleared off the line by Dante Peralto.
Despite KC’s dominance, Mona’s goalkeeper Edwards produced a string of superb saves to keep his team in contention.
Just before halftime, he acrobatically parried a powerful shot from Kajay Fletcher, diving full stretch to his right, and Byfield failed to capitalize on the rebound.
Seconds later, Edwards was called upon again to deny a stinging shot from Smith.
Matrim Martin then unleashed a venomous right-footer, but Edwards once more stood tall, ensuring the scoreline remained 1-0 at the break.
The purples continued to assert their authority on the resumption as Dailey threatened in the 68th with a firm shot from close range that went straight at Edwards.
However, the Kingston College striker, sporting the number nine jersey, made amends two minutes later. Sent on his way by a brisk through pass, Dailey powered a low drive past a flat-footed Edwards to double Kingston College’s lead and effectively end Mona’s hopes of a comeback.
Clarke hails solid Scotland as Croatia win boosts Nations League survival hopes
Steve Clarke credited Scotland's defensive resilience after they boosted their hopes of remaining in the top tier of the Nations League by beating Croatia 1-0 at Hampden Park.
John McGinn came off the bench to score the all-important goal as Scotland took advantage of Petar Sucic's sending-off to claim their first win of the 2024-25 Nations League campaign.
The result – coupled with Poland's crushing 5-1 defeat in Portugal – means Scotland will stave off automatic relegation to League B if they win in Warsaw on Monday.
While Clarke felt Scotland could have done more with the ball, he was impressed both with their off-the-ball work and with the impact of super sub McGinn.
"My first thoughts when I came off the pitch were that we could play better," Clarke said.
"We could be more clinical when we get to the final third of the pitch. The sending off changed the game, but we were due a little break.
"This is a group of players that want to be successful, want to do well for their country.
"That's another clean sheet, two in a row. If you don't concede goals, you always have a chance to win the game.
"It was nice to get John on the pitch and I thought his finish was really good because it wasn't easy. It was nice to be able to look at the bench behind and know we had people who could come on and affect the game. It's nice when we get everybody fit and available."
The victory was Scotland's first in a competitive match since September 2023, when they beat Cyprus 3-0 in Euro 2024 qualifying.
They had gone 10 games without a competitive victory since then, drawing four and losing six, including a return of just one point from three outings at Euro 2024.
Denmark 1-2 Spain: Oyarzabal and Perez on target as Roja secure top spot
Spain secured top spot in Group A4 of the Nations League with one match to spare after defeating Denmark 2-1 in Copenhagen.
Mikel Oyarzabal and Ayoze Perez were on the scoresheet as the unbeaten Roja made it four wins and a draw to pull six points clear of the second-placed Danes.
Luis de la Fuente's side capitalised on a poor pass from Denmark centre-back Jannik Vestergaard to open the scoring as Oyarzabal latched on to a ball from Perez and finished past Kasper Schmeichel in the 15th minute.
Villarreal forward Perez then doubled the visitors' lead in the 58th minute after Dani Olmo turned provider with a defence-splitting pass.
The hosts reduced the deficit with six minutes of regulation time left, as Fabian Ruiz's back pass to goalkeeper David Raya was intercepted by Gustav Isaksen, who had been denied by the woodwork moments earlier, and he slotted into an open goal to set up a tense ending.
But the Spaniards held on for the win and will now face Switzerland in their final group game on Monday, before taking part in the quarter-finals, scheduled for March.
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