Chelsea transfer: Timo Werner leaves Blues in €20 million sale to return to RB Leipzig

After a sub par spell at Chelsea, Timo Werner has completed a move back to RB Leipzig to reset his career in a deal worth €20 million upfront, and can grow to €30 million due to various add-ons.  After only scoring 10 Premier League goals with Chelsea, Werner will return to Germany with RB Leipzig to hopefully rediscover his form that saw him only score fewer than 15 Bundesliga goals with the club once in four seasons. 

If you attribute Werner’s struggles to be a result acclimating to life at Chelsea and in the Premier League it feels like a safe bet that he’ll turn things around in Germany. Not only is he at a club that knows how to use him, but he also has the added motivation of it being a World Cup year. 

“Today marks the end of my journey with Chelsea FC. I am incredibly grateful for the time I spent at this special club. At this point I would like to express my appreciation for my teammates, the coaches and staff, and especially for you, the special supporters of Chelsea Football Club. I felt so much love and support throughout the last two years and I will never forget how you guys stood behind me in good and in challenging times” Werner said in a personal statement, “We lifted trophies like the Champions League together and I will always remember the song you wrote and chanted for me. I’m already looking forward to hopefully playing at Stamford Bride again one day!”

With RB Leipzig in the Champions League this season, Werner could get a chance to return to Stamford Bridge quite soon. This move continues Chelsea’s clear out as Romelu Lukaku has also left the club, to return to Inter Milan in Serie A, but it leaves them quite light up top. Against Everton, Raheem Sterling was used as a center forward, although his best position is playing on the left wing so that he can use his speed in space to create chances.

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Armando Broja and Kai Havertz are the other center forwards on the team and Chelsea will need them to take steps forward if they want to compete at the highest levels without buying a true number nine this season. Back at Leipzig, Werner will slot right into the lineup next to Christopher Nkunku in a pairing that has the potential to be one of the most effective in the Bundesliga. 

The team doesn’t feel deep enough to challenge Bayern Munich for the league title but with those two in front of Emil Forsberg, Domenico Tedesco will have quite a bit of firepower at his disposal. Thomas Tuchel will have to hope that Chelsea can figure out putting the ball in the back of the net, or Champions League qualification could be tough as the rest of the top six in the Premier League has taken a step forward.