In 2020, Timo Werner left RB Leipzig to move to England. Direction Chelsea for the German. But in England, the striker bought for 53 million euros experienced a lot of complicated moments (23 goals and 21 assists in 89 matches). He therefore did not hesitate for a single minute when his former club wanted to repatriate him in the summer of 2022. The Blues, who were only too happy to part with something considered a flop, accepted a sale at a loss since Werner returned to the country against a check for 20 million euros. Last year he went through every state.
Indeed, he started strong before getting injured a few weeks before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A hard blow for the native of Stuttgart. Back, he continued to score goals to finish the season with a decent record of 16 goals and 6 assists in 40 matches in all competitions. This year 2023-24, the 27-year-old footballer was eagerly awaited by Leipzig. After starting the first two games as a starter, he then took his place on the sidelines. He multiplied the entries into the game.
A second failed wedding
Thus, after almost four months of competition, Werner currently has a total of 12 appearances in all competitions, but only 3 starts (376 minutes of play). Time for him to score 2 goals (0 assists). At the bottom of the hole, Werner, who remained on the bench the entire match against Freiburg this weekend, cannot really count on his club to boost his morale. This, despite the speech of the sports director of the German club, Rouven Schröder (48 years old) in the columns of Bild.
“He’s part of the team and has to face competition. There is, to a certain extent, the principle of performance. Others are currently a little ahead. But Timo is also someone who faces everything and accepts the situation. We are happy to have a player like that in the team who creates certain things. He has been going through a difficult time for a long time and we still support him. Timo will get through this too.” But the German media is very worried about him. “Will the club’s top scorer (113 goals) really be able to do that in Leipzig? The fact is that he is currently only the fourth striker behind Openda, Sesko and Poulsen and has little playing time.
Leipzig does not rule out a departure
Which is not good news a few months before Euro 2024, which will be held in Germany. Werner, who knows Julian Nagelsmann well, still hopes to be in the game. But he can’t get a club start. A departure may be considered. In any case, Leipzig is not ruling out anything on this subject. “I’m not going to talk about that now. We’re looking at the team as usual and we’ll definitely have some players who might say they have something else on their mind. We are also facing this problem.” Bild specifies that a loan this winter is being studied for Werner.
Which is not a surprise since the player aspires to have more playing time. Contacted by us, Tobias Feldhoff, journalist for Football Transfersmentioned the thorny Werner case. “I think he lacks a certain quality in football. He can run fast and shoot, but that’s it. His return is a failure. Marco Rose counts on different players, who are technically better like Xavi Simons and Loïs Openda. I am sure that he is looking for a new club this winter in order to have a chance to participate in the Euro. The German will play very big in the next transfer window!
