Timo Werner prioritising assists in bid to kick-start Chelsea career

Nicholas Hughes

• Updated: 17 May 2021 15:58 BST
• 2 min read

Timo Werner’s first season at Chelsea has been far from smooth-sailing, but the German has been adding assists to his game in the absence of goals for himself.

The former Leipzig man teed up fellow summer signing Hakim Ziyech at Wembley yesterday as Chelsea defeated Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final.

That makes it three assists for the German in his last four Chelsea games and takes his season total in all competitions to 10, equal to his amount of goals.

By comparison, the 25-year-old has scored four goals and registered just one assist in six games for Germany across this season, indicative of a changed role within the Chelsea side.

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But Werner told BBC Radio 5 Live after the City win that he wasn’t bothered if he scores or assists, as long as Chelsea win the game.

“I’ve had more assists than goals, which is unusual in the last year for me. As long as it helps the team it’s fine,” he said.

“It was good that I got the ball right for Hakim.”

For all of his goalscoring form at Leipzig, Werner was also a key creator for the side during his stint, notching at least five in each of his four seasons at the club.

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Last season he had a career-best 12 assists in all competitions, but when put alongside his 34 goals that number doesn’t quite stand out as much as it does this season.

Werner has seen himself used more often on the left-wing this season compared to others, particularly under the stewardship of Frank Lampard, and appears to have adapted his game to suit that role.

However, having arrived for £45 million, he has scored less than both Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham in all competitions, despite having played almost three times the minutes of both of his teammates.

That will continue to be of concern and need to be rectified regardless of how many assists Werner gets, but for now he appears to be regaining some confidence with a new role.