Liverpool and Timo Werner look set to be engaged in one of the more intriguing transfer sagas of the summer.

The forward has long been linked with a move to the Premier League, but it is the Reds who have been most consistently credited with interest in acquiring his services.

So where do things stand as we near the opening of the summer transfer window? Here’s what we know from our Liverpool correspondent David Lynch...

The player

It would be fair to say that Werner has made absolutely no secret of his desire to make the move to Liverpool this summer.

After helping RB Leipzig knock Tottenham out of the Champions League back in February (below), the German was asked about reported interested from Anfield and offered a reply that can fairly be considered as far from ‘coy’ as it gets.

"Liverpool are the best team in the world at the moment, and when you're linked with that team it makes me very proud,” the striker said.

"It's a pleasure but I know Liverpool play a lot of good players and I have to improve myself and to learn much more things to get on this level to play there."

Werner has also previously gone on record describing his compatriot Jurgen Klopp as “the best coach in the world”, further fanning the flames of speculation surrounding a potential Premier League switch.

If there are any guarantees around this transfer, the player’s desire to make it happen is one of them.

The club

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the feeling is reciprocated by Liverpool.

Sources close to the Reds have always maintained that it would be remiss of them not to be keeping an eye on a player with Werner’s record and profile.

However, there has been a marked shift in tone of late regarding whether they might actually follow up on any interest.

More recently, Liverpool have seemed keen to project the idea that reports regarding their desire to sign the German have been greatly exaggerated.

Whether this is a negotiating tactic remains to be seen, but it would hardly be out of character for Klopp to eschew a high-profile summer signing in favour of a more frugal approach.

His team have taken huge strides this term despite failing to sign a single senior player last summer - might a repeat be on the cards?

The cost

Varying reports have placed the release clause in Werner’s RB Leipzig contract anywhere between €25m and €50m.

And perhaps Liverpool’s seemingly cooling interest owes something to the fact that figures at the higher end of that scale have surfaced more regularly of late.

In normal circumstances, that would represent a bargain for a player who has struck 71 goals in just 118 appearances in the Bundesliga for his current club.

However, the financial consequences of the ongoing coronavirus-enforced shutdown have yet to be understood in full, and they may well shift perceptions of what represents a good deal.

Even if we were able to put an exact figure on Werner’s release clause, it would be hard to know its actual value.

The alternatives

Werder Bremen wideman Milot Rashica is one of few players who have been consistently touted as a potential alternative to Werner.

With a record of 23 goals in 59 appearances in the Bundesliga at the age of just 23, the Kosovo international certainly possesses the sort of profile that Liverpool’s transfer chiefs tend to covet.

Still, it would be no surprise to see Klopp deliver on his recent declarations regarding the Reds’ reserves of “fresh blood” by dismissing the transfer market entirely.

Might either Harvey Elliott or Curtis Jones be ready to step up and feature more regularly in the front three next season?

And what impact can Takumi Minamino have after a slow start to his Anfield career following a January move from RB Salzburg?

Only Klopp and his staff can say with any confidence what is required for next season.