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SOCCER

Timo Werner showing critics he’s no dud

The Leipzig striker has put his two bad seasons at Chelsea behind him and has returned to his best. The German already has 16 goals in the Bundesliga - better figures than he achieved in the Premier League.

Update:
The Leipzig striker has put his two bad seasons at Chelsea behind him and has returned to his best. The German already has 16 goals in the Bundesliga - better figures than he achieved in the Premier League.
RONNY HARTMANNAFP

In the summer of 2020, almost the entire Premier League was fighting to win Timo Werner’s signature. In the end, Chelsea put 53 million euros on the table , fending off Liverpool’s advances for the player. But after two low-key seasons at Stamford Bridge, Werner returned to Germany. He returned to his old club Red Bull Leipzig - a move that paid off. In no time, he was back to being the player he was - a joy to watch with a steady flow of goals.

There were no end of jokes and puns about his name (Timo means scam or fraud in Spanish) on social media during his two seasons at Chelsea. He finished his first season at the Bridge with 12 goals, and last season, just 11. Figures that were light years away from the Werner who wowed clubs in Europe with his insatiable hunger got goals before he moved to the Premier League - 34 goals, 28 of them in the Bundesliga. Impressive numbers which suddenly vanished as soon as he moved to England.

The good times have arrived again for Werner. Todd Boehly’s Chelsea decided to sell him for just €20 million last August. In doing so, he relieved himself of a problem - or at least thought he had. Boehly also loaned Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan, kept Kai Havertz, as a false striker and signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona for €12 million. The Londoners’ lack of goals this season (30 in 31 Premier League games) is a constant reminder that this time last season, Werner and the Belgian striker were Chelsea’s primary options in attack.

Bundesliga top scorers*

  • 16 Niclas Fullkrug
  • 13 Randal Kolo Muani
  • 13 Marcus Thuram
  • 13 Vincenzo Grifo
  • 12 Christopher Nkunku
  • 11 Jamal Musiala
  • 10 Dodi Lukebakio
  • 10 Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
  • 9 Timo Werner
  • 9 Serge Gnary
  • 9 Moussa Diaby
  • 9 Marius Bulter
  • 9 Jonas Hoffmann
  • 9 Andrej Kramaric
  • 9 Karim Onisiwo
  • 9 Marcus Ingvartsen
  • 9 Mergim Berisha

*As of 17 April 2023

Ton up in the Bundesliga

Werner scored twice in Leipzig’s 3-2 win over Augsburg at the weekend - a result which keeps the team in third place in the Bundelsiga. The striker’s tally to date is 16 goals - nine of them in the German league. Figures well above those he garnered with the Blues. And not to forget that he has had his fair share of physical problems that made him miss some games with Leipzig - a syndesmotic ligament tear which also prevented him from being with Germany at the Qatar World Cup.

He has managed to recover and overcome those setbacks. Werner experienced ups and downs in England and had a hard time adjusting to the Bundesliga, but with the backing of Marco Rose on the bench, he feels important and is performing to his best. The goals he is scoring is the perfect endorsement. With a brace on Saturday, he reached 100 goals in the Bundesliga and at the age of 27 there are still many more to come. At Leipzig, Werner has found his perfect ecosystem and it’s all coming together for him again.