Football News: Chelsea’s Timo Werner returns to RB Leipzig as €30 million deal is agreed

The contract, which is a permanent move for the 26-year-old, is said to be valued at around €30 million, with different performance-related add-ons possible.

Werner has agreed to terms with Leipzig on a four-year contract that would keep him with the DFB-Pokal champions until 2026.

The attacking disappointments are exiting the Stamford Bridge exit door one by one. Romelu Lukaku has already left, having been loaned back to Internazionale a year after joining Chelsea for a world record fee of £97.5 million.

Timo Werner has now followed in the footsteps of his colleague by opting to conclude his dismal stint in England.

Werner will be seeking to relaunch his career ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, following a disastrous two-year stint at Stamford Bridge.

He joined Chelsea for €50 million in 2020, preferring not to play in Leipzig's rescheduled Champions League quarterfinal against Atletico Madrid, which was postponed due to COVID-19, to give himself more time to adjust to English football.

Werner started brightly, scoring eight goals in his first 12 games up until mid-November, but he only scored four more for the rest of the season as he lost form and confidence.

Werner was kept out of Chelsea's squad for the match against Everton while negotiations with Leipzig proceeded.

Timo Werner opens up on the transfer

"I'm very happy to be able to play for RB Leipzig again," Werner stated after signing with RB Leipzig.

“I had a great time here between 2016 and 2020, when we performed brilliantly as newcomers in the league. It was a dignified departure for me to leave the club as record goalscorer, but that's in the past now and I'm looking ahead, because both I and the club have developed in the past two years,” he continued.

He has 23 goals in 89 appearances for Chelsea, and while manager Thomas Tuchel is thought to be hesitant to part with the forward given the wider pressure to strengthen the squad, there is an acknowledgement that the mid-season World Cup has heightened the player's concerns about a lack of regular action.

He scored four goals in 12 Champions League games that season, but just six in the Premier League.

Werner's fortunes did not improve much in his second season, as he scored 11 goals in 37 outings for Chelsea in all competitions.

And, unlike fellow Chelsea frontman Romelu Lukaku, Werner did not complain about his predicament in the media, jeopardising the team's season.

It was similar to how the Stamford Bridge crowd greeted other poor strikers in the past, including Pierluigi Casiraghi, Mateja Kezman, Andriy Shevchenko, and Fernando Torres.

Tuchel has some of the responsibility as well

Only Mount and possibly Havertz have made an impact in the system he has decided to deploy among the offensive players he acquired from Lampard.

Notably, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi want to leave, while Christian Pulisic's father has stated that his son is unhappy under Tuchel as well. It implies that there are other aspects to consider.

Werner, who was due to join Liverpool two summers ago before they dropped out and instead signed Diogo Jota from Wolves, joins the long list of Chelsea strikers who have not produced value for money and will not be missed.

Werner's arrival comes after Leipzig announced on Tuesday that they had completed the acquisition of FC Salzburg attacker Benjamin Sesko, who will join the club formally in July 2023.

Werner, the club's highest scorer with 95 goals in 159 games, makes the transfer with the hopes of making Hansi Flick's Germany squad for the 2022 World Cup.

Follow all of today's Football matches on our Live Match Centre