Chelsea flop Timo Werner struck a stunning long-range strike just 36 minutes into his RB Leipzig return on Saturday.
On receiving a pass from Benjamin Henrichs, Werner took a touch before unleashing a 30-yard stunner that flew beyond Koln goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe’s despairing dive.
It was the first goal of his second Leipzig debut since he completed a move back from Chelsea.
Here’s the video of Timo Werner’s long-range piledriver:
Werner had joined the Blues on a staggering €50 million transfer from the Red Bulls in 2020. However, things didn’t quite work out for him, although he won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup titles there.
The German struggled to replicate his Leipzig form in Chelsea colours, netting only 23 goals in 89 appearances across competitions, including only ten in the Premier League in 56 games.
Werner was uncharacteristically wasteful, missing a host of sitters throughout his two years in west London and also saw numerous goals ruled out by VAR.
It must be very ironic for Chelsea fans to now see Werner back in his old habitat and hitting the ground running in stunning fashion on his second debut.
Werner returned to Leipzig for £25.3 million, having first broke into their first team in the 2016-17 season following his arrival from Stuttgart. He struck 21 league goals in 31 games in his first season and didn’t look back. During his first stint at the club, Werner struck 95 goals in 159 games and contributed 40 assists. Now in his first game back at the club, the striker is already off the mark.
Chelsea’s hunt for new striker continues
Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku, two of Chelsea’s recognised strikers, have both left the club following disappointing returns, The Blues are looking for a new goalscoring talisman to lead their line.
Mitchy Batshuayi has returned from his loan spell at Besiktas but hasn’t been given a squad number, suggesting that he isn’t in manager Thomas Tuchel’s plans.
Barcelona’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been linked with the Blues. Betfair says (via The Sun) that he’s 11-4 to join the Blues, who now have Armando Broja as the only recognised centre-forward.
With just 19 days left for the summer transfer window to close, it’ll be interesting to see if the Blues can snap up a quality striker.