Played – and that’s enough – Newspaper Kommersant No. 145 (7346) of 08/11/2022
[ad_1]
London Chelsea, which found itself in a rather difficult situation due to a change in ownership, continues to carry out a fundamental cleansing. The club, which bought striker Timo Werner from RB Leipzig for €53 million two years ago, is now sending him back on much less favorable terms – for €20 million. the star of Chelsea, it is completely sour there. Earlier, the Londoners got rid of another forward who became a burden – Romelu Lukaku. He will play for Inter Milan on loan.
The fact that 26-year-old striker Timo Werner is returning to Leipzig was announced by the club on its official website. This deal is extremely profitable for the Germans: two years ago they sold Werner to Chelsea for €53 million, and now they returned it back for just €20 million.
In fact, in 2020, the transfer of the German striker was seen as a big victory for Chelsea. In that transfer window, the Londoners recruited a huge squad of recruits from Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell, Edouard Mendy, and in the race for Werner they managed to beat the most powerful competitor – Liverpool.
Timo Werner really then turned into a main, very attractive target for several top clubs: in four seasons in the German championship, he scored 90 goals and made 40 assists.
It seemed that the heyday of Werner, which at that time seemed inevitable, was just ahead. But in Chelsea, the results of the German, on the contrary, began to decline. He began to score much less (only 23 goals in two seasons) and did not gain a foothold in the starting lineup.
In addition, Werner did not have a relationship with head coach Tumas Tuchel. So, for example, a year ago, during the final match of the Champions League, which ended for Chelsea with a victory over Manchester City, Tuchel said that Werner ignored the instructions of the mentor. And already this season, the striker, talking to reporters, often complained about the lack of playing time.
In July, Werner said that he would be happy in any other place where he could regularly enter the field. “If I was a young player and played for Chelsea, I would be one of the happiest people on the planet,” retorted Tumas Tuchel.
The purchase of Timo Werner, meanwhile, does not look like Chelsea’s biggest mistake. All the English publications that rank the worst transfers of the London club in the entire history of its existence put another Chelsea acquisition, Romelu Lukaku, in the first place.
A year ago, Chelsea, which started buying the Belgian striker from Milan’s Inter, had to shell out a colossal amount for him – € 115 million. But Tuchel Lukaku, whose contract with the British runs until 2026, failed to fit into the schemes who played 44 matches for Chelsea, scored only 15 goals in all competitions. And in the matches of the English championship – only five.
Chelsea management have made the decision to send Lukaku somewhere in the current transfer window. According to the publication Daily Mail, the British “would have preferred to sell” the Belgian, but his salary (€12 million a year) was “a significant barrier to potential buyers.” As a result, the Londoners leased Romelu Lukaku to Inter for one year for €8 million. Moreover, The Telegraph notes, the Chelsea management has already offered the player to stay there for the second season.
Until the end of the transfer campaign, the English club, which lost two of its strikers over the summer, will have to find a replacement for them.
Chelsea’s offensive line has already been strengthened by one of the brightest stars of Manchester City, Raheem Sterling. The 27-year-old Englishman cost the London club £45m, with another £10m depending on the player’s performance and the team’s results, he can pay Manchester City as bonuses. Thomas Tuchel personally met with Sterling and promised him a “key role” in the team.
But the club does not intend to limit itself to Sterling. Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is Chelsea’s top option at the moment, according to renowned football insider Fabrizio Romano. But the Catalans have not yet received an official offer.
[ad_2]
Source link
