Werner heading back to RB Leipzig after woeful stint at Chelsea

Chelsea are on the verge of selling another striker in this transfer window, and this time it will be Timo Werner leaving the Blues to go back to his former club, Red Bull Leipzig, for a fee around €25 million. The fee has not yet been finalized, but Werner and RB Leipzig have agreed to personal terms and it is expected the deal will be completed on Monday.

Werner was another embarrassing transfer storyline for Chelsea. Similar to Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea paid a lot of money for Werner’s services and are now selling him back to his former club for a financial loss.

Werner rose to prominence with Leipzig and peaked in the 2019-2020 season, when he scored 34 goals across 45 games. Then, Chelsea brought him in to be their lead striker, and in two years he was only able to score 23 goals across 89 games. He never found his footing with Chelsea and the once-reliable finisher couldn’t seem to find any consistency for the Blues. Now, Chelsea will be without both Werner and Lukaku for their upcoming season and, once again, they have a need for a reliable goalscorer.

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Werner is only 26 and the book has not closed on him. While he seemingly wasted away for two of his prime years in London, Werner can still be an impact player for Leipzig. They have a good squad, but if they get the old Werner back, they will be substantially better than previously thought.

Still, Leipzig are far off competing for the Bundesliga title. Teams like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are levels ahead of them, and while Leipzig can give those giants a game, it will be hard for them to maintain an elite level of play for the whole season. Leipzig are also +5000 to win the Champions League and they will struggle in that competition. Simply, Leipzig do not have the talent to match the elite European teams, and while Werner could help, there are still a lot of questions about his recent form.

That being said, it is probably a good thing for Werner to get out of Chelsea and return to the club where he became a household name. It remains to be seen if he can return to an elite level of play, but maybe there will still be some magic left in his boots when he hits the Leipzig pitch for the first time.

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