Timo Werner shows exactly why Chelsea want him… but £53m transfer target’s late miss costs RB Leipzig dear

Tom Doyle6 June 2020

Timo Werner was back in action for the first time since the stunning news that the RB Leipzig star is on the verge of signing for Chelsea.

Standard Sport understands that Werner is close to joining the Blues on a five-year, £200,000-a-week contract with Chelsea to activate his £53million clause.

While Werner is reasonably priced given his status as one of Europe's most in-demand forwards, such a fee is still a sizable risk given the financial imlplications of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, with Liverpool not making a move due to financial concerns and Manchester United focusing on a deal for Jadon Sancho, Chelsea have moved quickly to agree a deal which will go a long way to rebuilding Frank Lampard's attack for next season.

Chelsea fans got an early chance to see Werner in action as RB Leipzig hosted Paderborn on Saturday afternoon - and we took a look at his performance.

In Pictures | Timo Werner's career so far

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With Paderborn bottom of the table and Leipzig looking to qualify for the Champions League, it was no surprise to see Werner & Co. take the game to the visitors.

Werner was lively early doors as he saw a few efforts blocked out, cutting in from the left flank with pace and looking for an angle for the shot.

With Paderborn's defence alive to the threat Werner posed, the forward was key to Leipzig's first goal after 27 minutes. Werner held his run well to break the Paderborn defence's line, and then found Patrick Schick with a neat cut-back to finish.

That assist took him to eight for the season and, added to his 25 goals, took him level with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski and Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho for 33 goals contributed this season.

From then on it only appeared a matter of time before Leipzig would strike again, but Dayot Upamecano was sent off after being shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away in frustration.

Schick was sacrificed at the interval, and Werner was given the thankless task of leading the line on his own after the break, but it offered a chance to see another side to his game - and how he would react to a different sort of challenge.

The forward hassled and harried with little support, showing strength on the ball to win free-kicks and ease the pressure on his team-mates.

In the 66th minute, Werner very nearly made a goal all on his own: he chased down Jamilu Collins and forced the defender into a weak backpass from halfway, rounded keeper Leopold Zingerle and tried to finish from an acute angle, but placed the ball wide when a cut-back to a team-mate would have likely resulted in a second for Leipzig.

POOL/AFP via Getty Images

However, it wasn't necessarily a surprise to see Werner shoot considering how little support he'd had since the break.

Werner had a late chance to settle the game as he again got in on the left-hand side of the box, but he thrashed the ball over the ball from a simple position. Werner looked like he couldn't believe he'd missed, though he would surely have found the net with a little more gas in the tank on another day.

Unfortunately for Werner and Leipzig, they were made to rue that miss as Paderborn equalised in injury time through Christian Strohdiek. Werner was one of the hosts' better performers, but in the end, Upamecano's red card and that late miss cost them.

POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Though the game didn't descend into a shooting gallery as initially predicted, the way the match went will actually tell Lampard and Chelsea fans more about Werner than had he netted an easy hat-trick.

Werner was productive with the odds in his favour, and then showed grit and determination to grind out an effective performance with his side up against it.

That type of battling display will endear him to Chelsea fans, and also show Lampard that Werner is exactly the right type of player - and personality - to build his squad around.

However, the late miss suggests there is still work for Werner to do.

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