Lampard long game pays off just in Timo
CHASE IS OVER AS BLUES BOSS FINALLY GETS £47.8M MAN
CHELSEA manager Frank Lampard finally landed long-term target Timo Werner yesterday in a £47.8million deal.
RB Leipzig striker Werner signed a five-year deal worth £170,000 a week that Chelsea had set up 10 days ago.
Werner said: “I’m excited for the new, exciting challenge of my career in England. It is not a decision against RB Leipzig, but for my dream to play in the Premier League – the strongest league in the world. It feels like the right step.”
Lampard has led the chase from the start, using his personal touch to secure Werner’s signature. The Stamford Bridge club identified the striker six months ago as one of the men they wanted to strengthen their attack when their transfer ban was lifted.
They knew they had competition from Liverpool and at one stage it looked as if Chelsea were going to lose out to Jurgen Klopp.
But Lampard, right, is determined to build something new at Stamford Bridge and spoke to Werner several times and, according to several sources, flew to Germany to talk to the player and his representatives before the lockdown.
That attention to detail and his sheer determination paid off yesterday.
Chelsea had already long earmarked Werner before they scouted him in Leipzig’s comprehensive 4-0 aggregate win against Tottenham in the Champions League in March.
But as soon as Liverpool wavered over the fee, Chelsea moved, with director Marina Granovskaia sealing the deal.
Earlier this week, Werner had told Leipzig he did not want to play for them after June 27, when the Bundesliga season ends, which meant he would miss the Champions League quarter-finals.
The details were tied up well before it was revealed midweek that Spain forward Pedro would be joining Roma on a twoyear contract and is unlikely to play for Chelsea again after his contract expires on June 30.
With Lampard trying out other options in his wide positions,
Pedro has probably played his last game for the club. Werner scored his 26th goal of the Bundesliga campaign on Wednesday night against Fortuna Dusseldorf and now only has two games left with Leipzig before he departs. According to sources close to the player, he intends to come to London next month to begin working with Lampard and Chelsea. How he fits into Lampard’s team – with Ajax’s Hakim Ziyech having already arrived in a £38m deal in February – will be interesting. Werner likes to play from a wide position on the left, cutting inside, much like Thierry Henry. While the Germany international can play through the middle, he likes to operate with a central striker ahead of him or alongside, which should leave room for Tammy Abraham to partner him in a new-look Chelsea attack. Chelsea also want Leicester leftback Ben Chilwell but, with the Midlands club wanting around £80m, that deal still has some way to go.
But their chances of signing Bayer Leverkusen striker Kai Havertz have been boosted after Real Madrid revealed they will have to wait a year before doing any deal for £90m-rated midfielder.