Timo Werner would have flopped at Liverpool - Chelsea transfer is the perfect arrangement, says Stan Collymore

Liverpool fans should not be too upset over missing out on the signing of Timo Werner because the RB Leipzig striker would likely have flopped at Anfield.

That is the view of Stan Collymore, who believes the Germany international's proposed move to Chelsea represents the "perfect arrangement" for both player and club.

The Reds had long looked to be leading the chase for Werner, whose impressive goalscoring record and release clause in the region of £50m had seen him touted as one of the potential bargains of the summer.

However, the coronavirus pandemic forced the Premier League leaders to reconsider whether they could afford a deal that had once seemed inevitable, opening the door for Frank Lampard to swoop in with the money raised by Eden Hazard's sale last year.

And Collymore expects a move to Stamford Bridge to prove a much better fit for the highly rated 24-year-old.

“The deal to take Timo Werner to Chelsea is a perfect arrangement for all concerned," he told the Mirror.

“Perfect for the player, perfect for the Blues, perfect for RB Leipzig, who are trousering £53million, and perfect for Liverpool as well.

“He’s a good, solid striker with promise — an all-rounder who holds the ball up well, is mobile, gets into the box and scores goals.

“But the Liverpool fans sobbing about missing out on him can spare me the tears because he’s not Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo and the way some have reacted, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was some sort of reincarnation of both.

“Liverpool are the European champions, world champions and soon-to-be Premier League champions, and there would be massive pressure on him as the summer’s marquee signing at Anfield on the back of all that.

“Add in the fact that Liverpool already have arguably the best-balanced front three in the world and I’m struggling to see where Werner would have fitted in.

“I wouldn’t have seen him displacing any of them and, given everything that team has done together, I could even have seen him flopping.

“Why? Because walking into that dressing room would have been massively intimidating for a 24-year-old.

“At Chelsea, though, he will look around and see Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud, and think, ‘Yes, good players, but I’ll have that challenge’.

“He knows he’s not the finished article yet and that’s what Liverpool will be looking for even if they aren’t the sort of signings Jurgen Klopp is fabled for making.”

While Collymore acknowledges that financial considerations likely played a part in Liverpool pulling out of a deal, he believes Klopp would have pushed harder had he felt more strongly that Werner needed to be signed.

He added: “As for the notion that Jurgen Klopp couldn’t justify Werner’s fee, I’m sure there is an element of the Kop boss not wanting to appear gaudy or louche in the current climate.

“He’s not a Billy Bulls****** after all.

“Had he firmly believed Werner would be the next Sergio Aguero or Fernando Torres, though, I’m pretty sure he’d have been whipping out the old chequebook in a heartbeat.”