Timo Werner has returned to Germany with RB Leipzig after their winter training camp in Spain but is set to fly to London in the coming days to complete his loan switch to Tottenham.
Spurs have reached an agreement with RB Leipzig to sign the 27-year-old until the end of the season. Spurs will cover his full salary, although there is an option to buy the striker at the end of the season.
Sky in Germany reports that the payment to sign Werner permanently at the end of the season is £15. 5m and that his salary will cost Spurs £4. 3m.
Sky Sports News reported earlier this week that the former Chelsea player introduced himself to Manchester United in the January transfer window, but it now looks set to return to London this month.
Ange Postecoglou’s side will be without club captain Heung-Min Son for at least a month due to his participation in the Asia Cup and there are fears Alejo Veliz has suffered a long-term knee injury.
Werner has played eight times for Leipzig in the Bundesliga this season and has scored two goals. His current contract runs through the summer of 2026.
Leipzig posted a statement on their official social media channels on Saturday confirming that the German foreigner had been excluded from their squad for a friendly against St. Petersburg. Gallen of the Swiss Super League while holding talks with another club.
Werner scored 93 goals and provided 40 assists in 157 appearances in his first spell at Leipzig before signing for Chelsea for £45m in July 2020.
However, his stint at Stamford Bridge was a largely disappointing one as he netted only 10 times in 56 Premier League games before re-joining his former club in 2022.
Philipp Hinze of Sky Germany:
“On Sunday Werner returned to Leipzig [from their winter camp in Spain]. So there is no flight from Spain to London, but that will be done in the next few days. He’s in Leipzig, his friend is there, he’s got his clothes there, so he had to go home and then he’ll fly to London, on the list is a medical check-up and then the signature.
“We heard that Werner was surely excited by the verbal exchange with Ange and that Ange wanted it.
“Werner needed the move and that’s why he tried to pass it very quickly. There was a very quick agreement. On Thursday and especially on Friday night with a very quick decision. And then on Saturday night, a global agreement. So maybe three or two days of talks, nepastiations, so it’s a very quick agreement, not 3 or 4 weeks of talks.
“It’s an option [that he would leave Leipzig in January] if there’s a team that offers Werner the full salary and gives Werner the playing time he wants to play at the Euros with Julian Nagelsmann. It’s his big dream.
“We have to go back to the move from Chelsea to Leipzig. La main explanation was playing in the World Cup, being in the World Cup squad in Qatar, and then [had] a big injury and missed the World Cup in Qatar. “”And now the euro, especially in Germany, wants it. That’s why he wants to play time. In the first part of the season he played two hundred minutes in the Bundesliga. That’s not enough. And now [if he impresses] at the high level in the Premier League [he can] be there for the Euros. “
Timo Werner has been low on confidence and out of form but Ange Postecoglou sees his potential.
We are in the question of whether the German will be able to rejuvenate himself at Spurs.
Adam Smith of Sky Sports:
Timo Werner arrived in the Premier League three-and-a-half years ago with great expectations. His playing style was likened to Mohamed Salah and the forward immediately displayed his direct qualities but struggled to convert chances in front of goal.
The radar below compares Werner’s stats up to 90 in his time at Chelsea with his last 3 league campaigns in Germany and shows that the one metric he has noticeably replaced was his goal rate.
In terms of tangible numbers, Werner scored 10 goals in two Premier League seasons at Chelsea – but should have scored nearly twice that figure, according to expected goals (xG).
The shot map below shows all of his 124 shots for Chelsea in the Premier League, with coloured dots in progressive shades of red indicating chances to score, revealing a number of missed chances in front of goal.
He was deployed in numerous positions across the firing line in an attempt to surface his underlying talent, but he failed to deliver while competing against a host of attacking options vying for starting berths.
Tottenham will be hoping Werner’s second attempt at breaking into the Premier League will be successful. You will feel that you have a task in England.
Tottenham target Radu Dragusin played for Genoa on Friday night as talks continue between the two clubs.
The Romanian was a foreigner and completed the full 90 minutes of Genoa’s 1-1 draw with Bologna in Serie A.
Meanwhile, Spurs are concerned about Napoli’s interest in the 21-year-old.
The signing of a centre-back remains a precedent in the January window for Ange Postecoglou’s team.
The winter move-in window is now open and will close at 11 p. m. in England and Scotland on Thursday, February 1, 2024.
To ensure harmonisation with the major leagues in Europe, the closing dates were set following discussions with the EFL, DFL, Serie A, LaLiga, and LFP, who will all close their summer and winter windows on 1 September and 1 February respectively.
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