Better than Jackson: £25m player Tuchel sale has outscored every Chelsea player since leaving
Chelsea have had various iconic strikers and attackers over the years, reliable forwards who would dazzle packed-out crowds in west London with huge goals and skilful bits of play to match – the likes of Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, Didier Drogba, Gianfranco Zola and Diego Costa coming to mind from yesteryear.
Unfortunately, for every legendary player to wear Chelsea blue, there are also the forgotten ones who won’t look back on their time at Stamford Bridge with much fondness.
In this case, a hyped-up striker from the Bundesliga failed to ever go when switching Germany for the Premier League, in the form of misfiring marksman, Timo Werner.
When did Chelsea sign Timo Werner?
Chelsea would sign the German attacker for £45m, a sizeable fee that was justified for a striker who had been in red-hot form for RB Leipzig before joining the Blues.
He would score a remarkable 28 goals in 34 starts for Leipzig during the 2019-20 campaign, netting three hat-tricks along the way too.
One match that same season even saw Werner score three goals and register three assists, as the Bundesliga side swept aside Mainz 8-0.
Liverpool were another interested party in the mobile forward before Werner signed on the dotted line for Chelsea, a move that the 5’11 striker would live to regret.
How many goals would Timo Werner score for Chelsea?
The Stuttgart native would never replicate the lethal edge that saw him hype up for a major move away from Germany with the Premier League outfit, only scoring 23 goals in all competitions for the Blues over two seasons.
His undoing was the amount of chances he’d spurn on a regular basis whilst in west London, the 27-year-old only scored ten top-flight goals when his xG numbers suggested he should’ve netted far more – his expected goals coming in at 18.57, as per Sky Sports.
That being said, former Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas even took to X when Werner was still with the Blues to defend the out-of-form striker, stating that the attacker “makes so many good runs” even if the goals weren’t flowing at the time.
The £45m flop has since rebuilt his career after his less-than-satisfactory spell in the English capital, finding his feet again in his native Germany.
Where is Timo Werner now?
RB Leipzig managed to re-sign their former star man for a cut price fee, Werner moving back to the Red Bulls for £25m.
He would manage nine goals in his first campaign back at the Red Bull Arena, scoring on his second debut for the club against FC Cologne to ease any nerves surrounding his ineffectiveness in front of goal in England seeping into his performances in the Bundesliga.
Injuries have impacted Werner staying in the side, but he looks a much more confident attacker back in Leipzig colours than he ever did wearing Chelsea blue.
The 5 foot 11 speedster notably netted 16 times in all competitions last term in his first season since leaving Stamford Bridge, with the Blues top scorer, by contrast, having been fellow German Kai Havertz with just nine goals – thus ensuring he has outscored every Chelsea player since his departure.
He could well have given Nicolas Jackson some competition in the striker areas if he had stuck it out in west London, the young Senegalese forward only scoring two times this season after a major move from Villarreal.
While still only 22, Jackson has hardly been prolific in his career to date after netting just 13 goals during his time in Spain, while Werner, by contrast, hit 112 goals in just 207 games for Leipzig.
Chelsea fans will hope that they haven’t signed another dud in attack like Werner, who struggled throughout his time in the English capital to live up to the billing of being a clinical source of goals but has since bounced back after returning to his homeland.