Jim Holden Timo Werner
Look at the numbers, as any wise football fan does, and it’s plain to see why Chelsea’s £54 million acquisition of Germany striker Timo Werner is a move of thrilling potential.
He scored 28 goals in the Bundesliga last season for RB Leipzig. His overall record through four years at the club was 95 goals in 159 matches, as he became the club’s record goalscorer.
Werner is only 24. These are fabulous statistics for a relatively young forward; beyond a surge of good fortune, far beyond a oneseason dazzler who can be shackled when opposition teams work him out.
The stats are why Liverpool were also seriously interested in taking him to Anfield before the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic prompted them to be cautious about transfers.
In the case of Werner, however, numbers are only part of the story. Look at his character and personality, and then you see why this move may be the most significant in the Premier League, and why it will transform Chelsea into credible title challengers.
Werner’s career has been forged in the heat of cruel and sustained abuse from Bundesliga crowds over several seasons. Rarely in the history of the game has there been such a vicious and widespread campaign of hatred.
His crime was committed in December 2016 when the striker conned the referee with a dive to win a penalty he converted in a match against Schalke.
It was blatant cheating; he fell without contact from an opponent. But Werner is hardly alone in trying such tricks in a modern game where ethics have become an optional luxury extra.
The reaction was exacerbated by general dislike of RB Leipzig among German football fans, and created an imperfect storm for the player.
“Timo Werner is a son of a bitch” was a chant across stadiums in the Bundesliga, even at matches where RB Leipzig were not playing. They continued for two years.
It flared up even a few months ago when Hoffenheim owner Dietmar Hopp was the subject of offensive banners and chants, which even stopped a match against Bayern Munich.
Stuttgart ultras found another way to display their anger with a subsequent banner that read simply: “Dietmar Hopp ist ein Timo Werner!”
Most footballers would have wilted amid such intense personal hostility. Werner’s resolve was implacable, his ambition only expanded.
“It made me stronger,” is his verdict. “I don’t think many strikers would have scored so many goals with the atmosphere so firmly against them.”
He believes this mental strength came from endless football lessons as a boy from his father Gunther Schuh, a former professional himself.
“My dad would pass me the ball and I would take shots at goal,” said Werner. “First it was the right foot, and we’d work on my technique on that.
Then it was to my left foot. We even ran up mountains together. I learned quickly that to become a professional you always have to do more.”
Perhaps all this explains why he is so nerveless in one-on-ones against a goalkeeper. Strikers say these are the hardest to score, but Timo has become a maestro of dinking the ball over the keeper or curling a shot past him.
No transfer is guaranteed to be a success, but the feeling here is that Chelsea have bought superbly well.
Along with his formidable mentality and shooting accuracy, Werner is genuinely two-footed and one of the fastest footballers in Europe.
“Turbo Timo” is his happy nickname, for sprinting 100m in just 111. 1 seconds. He can play as a main centre-forward, on either flank or as a second striker, dropping deeper between the lines.
What is the vision of Chelsea boss Frank Lampard as he plots new seasons in the Premier League and Champions League? We will find out soon enough, but the team he is creating will surely be built to suit Werner’s strengths.
The German will become as integral to Chelsea as Didier Drogba was a decade ago. He will end the club’s long search for a true talisman striker.
The German will become as integral to Chelsea as Didier Drogba was a decade ago