
Chelsea
Premier League • England
Chelsea flop’s woes continue as green light is given for January loan move, with £17m sale impossible

Timo Werner has been made available for loan on January by RB Leipzig after struggling to recapture the form from before his spell with Chelsea, according to reports in Germany.
When Chelsea bought Werner from RB Leipzig in 2020, they were taking a player who was emerging from a season in which he scored 34 goals from 45 games. Therefore, his arrival was regarded as quite a coup and something that should have solved their striker issues once and for all.
But Werner went on to only score 10 Premier League goals across two seasons with Chelsea before the Blues decided to cut their losses by selling him back to RB Leipzig for €20m.
Last season, the Germany international scored 16 goals in all competitions, which was better than either of his campaigns with Chelsea but worse than any of the four from his previous spell with RB Leipzig.
And this season, the 27-year-old has scored just once from eight appearances, which has led his current employers to open up to the idea of moving him on in January. That said, it would only be if he wants to and they do not seem to be pushing him out.
According to Sport Bild, RB Leipzig will not stand in Werner’s way if he feels he needs a move to regain his confidence before Euro 2024.
Aware they are unlikely to recoup their €20m investment (£17m) by selling him, RB Leipzig might listen to loan offers for the former Stuttgart star. Who else might be interested is not explicitly mentioned.
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There is a reference in the report to Eintracht Frankfurt, who are in the market for another striker after losing Randal Kolo Muani to Paris Saint-Germain late in the summer. Moreover, their sporting director Markus Krosche used to work with RB Leipzig, where he extended Werner’s contract and then sold him to Chelsea.
Krosche remains a fan of Werner, but Sport Bild stops short of saying he is a target for Eintracht Frankfurt just yet.
Besides, Werner’s salary as the highest earner in the RB Leipzig squad (he is believed to take home about £167,000 per week) makes it hard for a loan anywhere to be facilitated.
RB Leipzig still have Werner under contract until 2026, by which time he will have reached the age of 30.
Move required for Werner to salvage Euro 2024 hopes
Werner was overlooked for the Germany squad for the October international break, despite his former RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann becoming the national team’s manager.
There seems to be a mutual acknowledgement that Werner’s involvement at club level needs to increase (he has only started one Bundesliga match this season) in order for him to emerge more strongly onto Nagelsmann’s radar. That may well mean moving clubs at the next opportunity.
The report even claims Werner could have left RB Leipzig in the summer, but there was never a concrete enough opportunity for his representatives to start looking for suitors.