De Ligt to Chelsea: Why Juventus defender is worth losing Werner for

James Shearman

• 26 Jun 2022 08:05 CDT
• 4 min read

Chelsea are willing to include forward Timo Werner in a deal for Juventus' Matthijs de Ligt, indicating their desperation to sign a top-class defender.

With Antonio Rudiger leaving for Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen set to depart on 30 June, the Blues are threadbare in their defensive options.

Cesar Azpilicueta's future is also currently unknown, but the Spaniard's contract doesn't expire until next summer so he may stick around.

However, the departures of the aforementioned Rudiger and Christensen have left Thomas Tuchel in a predicament as he prepares for an early start to the campaign due to the Qatar World Cup taking place in the winter.

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Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Malang Sarr and Azpilicueta are the only centre-backs currently in the senior squad, while Reece James has been used there sporadically.

Returning loanees Ethan Ampadu and Levi Colwill may well be introduced into the first-team fold through necessity rather than choice, but Chelsea are desperate to add at least one new body to bolster the options for Tuchel to choose between.

While Kalidou Koulibaly has been linked, the Napoli man doesn't appear to be a priority, with other players taking precedence, notably Matthijs de Ligt and Jules Kounde.

Sky Italia have reported that De Ligt is a high-priority target for the Blues, though the Dutch international has a €120m release clause in his current Juventus contract, which Thomas Tuchel's side are unwilling to meet.

Instead, according to Sky Italia, the Blues are willing to pay €45 million plus Timo Werner.

Can Chelsea afford to lose Werner?

28 goals and eight assists in Werner's final Bundesliga campaign for RB Leipzig caught the attention of every elite side in Europe, and thanks to personal phone calls between he and Frank Lampard, Chelsea were able to win the race to sign the German.

The expectation was that he'd score plenty of goals and push Chelsea ever-closer to a first Premier League trophy since Antonio Conte's departure.

In reality, Werner may have played a key role in the Blues' Champions League success in 2021, which certainly can't be overstated, but his off-the-ball contribution has always been more impressive and valuable than what he does on-the-ball - not what you want from your centre-forward.

It's not for the want of trying, as Werner is clearly someone with a desire to impress, but his spell at Chelsea just doesn't look like it'll turn a corner and improve.

Not only is his goal-scoring wayward, but his overall play and ability to negate the issues of a deep block don't match what Tuchel needs.

And, the former RB Leizpig man started just 15 Premier League games this season (scording four times), way down on the 29 he managed last year.

It's time Werner left Chelsea, and if the Blues can use him to work a deal for a top-class defender in De Ligt, they should pull the trigger without hesitation.