Alexander Sorloth has officially joined rising Bundesliga giants RB Leipzig, with the club having agreed a deal with both Crystal Palace and Turkish club Trabzonspor.

Sorloth joins Leipzig on a five-year deal, keeping him at the club until 2025 and the 24-year-old will wear the number 24 shirt.

Sorloth was viewed by head coach Julien Nagelsmann as a direct replacement for Timo Werner, who joined Palace’s London neighbours Chelsea ahead of the 2020/21 summer transfer window.

Leipzig, having had a striking void to fill, are adding further to their striking ranks with Die Roten Bullen having already signed Hwang Hee-chan from associated club RB Salzburg in Austria. Sorloth appears to be the primary target to replace their former star striker, in spite of the arrival of the South Korean star.

According to the Athletic, Trabzonspor and Palace have agreed a joint fee rising to around £22 million with the German outfit, with additional bonuses included in the deal. The proceeds of the deal will be split evenly between the parent club and Trabzonspor, who retained an option to buy the striker if he played at least 50% of the current season’s fixtures for Trabzonspor.

A separate report by Sky Sports [Transfer Centre, 17/09/2020, 10:35am] claims that this amounts to just £7 million as an initial sum for Palace – but this could rise substantially when bonuses are included.

Sorloth was viewed by Palace fans as having failed to live up to his potential in SE25, managing just one goal throughout his Crystal Palace career.

The £8.1 million signing from FC Midtjylland seemed unlikely to ignite a career in top-flight European football, but heads were soon turned after a sharp improvement in form. In spite of his lacklustre career at Crystal Palace, Sorloths two-year loan deal to Turkish giants Trabzonspor saw 39 appearances, 24 goals, 9 assists and a Turkish Cup victory to his name. Sorloth’s good form saw a willingness from all parties to terminate the loan deal prematurely in order to facilitate the move to Leipzig.

Sorloth will now be playing Champions League football as he looks to adjust his career back towards greatness. The boots of Timo Werner will take a formidable effort to fill, though the Norwegian international is clearly seen by the Leipzig hierarchy as the man for the job.