Timo Werner wants Chelsea exit amid transfer interest
Ben Jacobs
- 4 Aug 2022 21:32 BST
- 5 min read
Timo Werner wants to leave Chelsea this summer, and an exit from the club is likely, CBS reporter Ben Jacobs writes for FootballTransfers.
Werner has a friction-based relationship with Thomas Tuchel and there's growing interest, so I expect him to leave the football club this summer. It's as simple as that. I know that Chelsea have tried their best to reassure Werner of his role, but a bit like Romelu Lukaku, he’s not 100% bought-in.
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That’s just my opinion anyway, and that makes it very challenging, especially if Chelsea are going to add in this area as well. We knew at the beginning of the window that Christian Pulisic was the most likely in this area of three players to stay, and there would be a probable outgoing of one of Hakim Ziyech or Werner, and now there might be a realistic possibility that both of them exit during the window.
Ziyech has had problems in the sense that he hasn't moved to Milan as he would have hoped, and Milan have focused on other targets. But, that one is not over and is to be monitored over the course of the window. But Milan have focused on getting Charles de Ketelaere in the door first and we'll have to wait and see what happens.
But, I think Werner wants out and a loan deal is still very possible. There's a range of different clubs that are circling, ranging from Newcastle United to RB Leipzig, and then I think you have the more speculative ones. I know there are some reports out there that suggest Chelsea have offered Werner to Real Madrid and there are some reports that Spurs might even come in for Werner as well.
So, that growing interest can range from legitimate to just paper talk, but it's absolutely clear that Werner wants out of Chelsea in an ideal world, and I think that Chelsea will let him go as well because there's not quite the right energy at the moment between Werner and Tuchel.
It's a shame in many respects because let's not forget he's only 26 years of age and he's got a tremendous goalscoring record for his country, he joined Chelsea from Leipzig having scored 28 goals in only 34 Bundesliga games and that's why Leipzig would take him back in a heartbeat if they could.
Then he moved to Chelsea and he played a similar amount of games his first season, and scored just six times. Then last season he played 14 games less in the Premier League and only scored four goals in the competition. So it hasn't worked out. I don't think he's enjoying life at Stamford Bridge and it's probably in everybody's interest to let him go.
A replacement is needed
Chelsea would like to find some kind of replacement first otherwise they become Outgoing FC rather than Incoming FC, and this is really resonating in the minds of the ownership group at the moment. Chelsea have lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, they've seen Romelu Lukaku go to Inter, Kepa might leave and Marcos Alonso wants out.
So, when you take all of that together, even with the fact that Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling are excellent signings, if Chelsea let Ziyech go to Milan and/or Werner go on loan somewhere then that's a huge amount of outgoings. If you add up all of those players last season, cumulatively in terms of games in the Premier League, that’s 155 appearances that you're losing from last season alone from the players mentioned.
So, they won't just want to replace Werner first, but really they want to bring in three or four more through the door before they let another three or four leave.
Worried about the competition
Otherwise Chelsea are looking over their shoulder and saying, well, Arsenal have strengthened and have got depth, Spurs have strengthened, Newcastle are looking good if you look at what they did in January, a few names in this window, plus the momentum they are taking from the second-half of last season. And I'm sure Chelsea fans are worried. I still think Chelsea have got enough, I still think they're above their rivals and comfortably in the top four.
But, if Spurs continue to strengthen during the window, Arsenal bring in a few more, and Chelsea have outgoings without incomings, then panic starts to set in, especially with the period of instability and transition. This new ownership group are highly ambitious and I think at the end of the window, it’ll be proven that they know what they're doing.
And that is the reality of the window; it’s secretive in many respects, it’s business behind closed doors, and I think if Chelsea are judged at the end of the window, the whole fanbase, particularly those on social media, will settle a little bit. But, on paper right now I think there's agitation because Chelsea fans are seeing this window as outgoings, not incomings, and they're looking at Spurs and Arsenal as the opposite, and they're putting two and two together and saying we're not going to catch Man City and Liverpool.
It's breeding this feeling of frustration and uncertainty rather than excitement. But, there is a part of Tuchel and the ownership that are desperate to get incomings through the door to settle everything.
