Lost the joy of football
National player Timo Werner justified his departure from Chelsea after only two years with the lack of trust from the then coach Thomas Tuchel. “I had a very good first six months at Chelsea. I scored the goals and played well. Then all of that was forgotten a bit by the coach, that wasn’t fair,” the 26-year-old told the English newspaper.The Sun‘ and explained he lost the joy of playing football during his time on the island.
Werner switched back to RB Leipzig in August 2022 after two years in London for a fee of 20 million euros. “Maybe yes, in the end I just wanted to leave,” said the offensive player, looking back on his time in the Premier League. He had switched back to the Bundesliga to enjoy football again. “I didn’t feel it anymore, but you need that to be successful.” Werner played for Chelsea under coach Frank Lampard for the first six months before he was replaced by Tuchel. The latter was not optimal for the native of Stuttgart, who had been lured to Stamford Bridge by Lampard. Under the aegis of the German, things went steadily downhill for the attacker.
“In the end, the coach likes some players more than others – that’s completely normal and you have to accept that,” said Werner about working with the former Bundesliga coach. In his first season in London, the Leipziger had scored six goals in 35 Premier League games for Chelsea, in the second there were four goals in 21 games. During his time with the Blues, his market value fell from 70 million to 35 million euros (on Werner’s market value development).
Werner’s predecessor: Well-known returnees from Bundesliga clubs since 2000
Timo Werner | from Chelsea back to RB Leipzig for €20m | 769 days gone
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Season 22/23
Matthias Ginter | from Gladbach back to Freiburg | 2905 days away
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Season 22/23
Grischa Prömel | from Union back to TSG | 2516 days away
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Season 22/23
Max Kruse | from Union back to Wolfsburg for €5m | 2007 days away
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Season 21/22
Kevin Prince Boateng | from Monza back to Hertha | 5114 days away
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Season 21/22
Timo Hubers | from Hanover back to Cologne | 1826 days away
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Season 21/22
Mark Uth | from Schalke back to Cologne | 2741 days away
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Season 19/20 by loan, again 21/22 by fixed transfer
Mats Hummels | from Bayern back to BVB for €30.5m | 1095 days away
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Season 19/20
Kevin Trap | for €7 million from PSG back to SBU | 1491 days away
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Season 19/20
Sebastian Rode | for €4 million from BVB back to SGE | 1852 days away
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Season 19/20
Adam Szalai | from Hoffenheim back to Mainz | 2248 days away
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Season 19/20
Vincenzo Grifo | from Gladbach back to TSG for €5.5m | 1096 days away
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Season 18/19
André Hahn | from HSV back to Augsburg for €3 million | 1461 days away
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Season 18/19
Sandro Wagner from TSG back to Bayern for €13m | 3471 days away
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Season 17/18
Mario Gomez | from Wolfsburg back to VfB for €3m | 3106 days away
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Season 17/18
Andrew Beck | from Besiktas back to VfB for €2.5m | 3345 days away
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Season 17/18
Raúl Bobadilla | from FCA back to Gladbach for €2m | 2030 days away
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Season 17/18
Simon Terodde | from Stuttgart back to Cologne for €3 million | 2010 days away
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Season 17/18
Holger Badstuber | from FC Bayern back to VfB | 5513 days away
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Season 17/18
Anthony Ujah | from Liaoning back to Mainz for €3.8m | 1638 days away
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Season 17/18
Mats Hummels | from BVB back to Bayern for €35m | 2557 days away
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Season 16/17
Mario Goetze | from Bayern back to BVB for €22m | 1116 days away
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Season 16/17
Ashkan Dejagah | from Al-Arabi SC back to Wolfsburg | 1613 days away
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Season 16/17
Kevin Kampl | from BVB back to Bayer 04 for €11m | 1519 days away
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Season 15/16
Nuri Sahin | from Real back to BVB for €7m | 1096 days away
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Season 14/15
Sascha Riether | from Fulham back to Freiburg for €350,000 | 2557 days away
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Season 14/15
Claudio Pizarro | from Werder back to Bavaria | 1827 days away
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Season 12/13
Marco Reus | from Gladbach back to BVB for €17.1m | 2738 days away
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Season 12/13
Mohamed Zidan | from BVB back to Mainz for €400,000 | 1675 days away
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Season 11/12
Michael Ballac | from Chelsea back to Bayer | 2922 days away
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Season 10/11
Hanno Balitsch | from Hanover back to Bayer | 2007 days away
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Season 10/11
Artur Wichniarek from Bielefeld back to Hertha for €700,000 | 1277 days away
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Season 09/10
Lukas Podolski | from FC Bayern back to Cologne for €10m | 1087 days away
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Season 09/10
Paul Freer | from Bayer 04 back to Bochum for €1.1m | 1461 days away
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Season 08/09
Vahid Hashemian | from Hanover back to Bochum | 1461 days away
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Season 08/09
Jörg Böhme | from Gladbach back to Bielefeld | 2191 days away
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Season 06/07
Torsten Frings | from FC Bayern back to Werder | 1096 days away
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Season 05/06
Andreas Moller | from Schalke back to SBU | 4048 days away
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Season 03/04
Niko Kovac | from Bavaria back to Hertha | 2556 days away
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Season 03/04
Roy Prager | from HSV back to Wolfsburg | 1096 days away
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Season 02/03
Thordur Gudjonsson (left) | from Preston NE back to Bochum | 1826 days away
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Season 02/03
Filip Tapalovic | from 1860 Munich back to Bochum | 1826 days away
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Season 02/03
Werner on Chelsea time: “I didn’t feel valued enough”
“I then missed a few chances and was unlucky with VAR decisions. You could see my confidence dropping. From the outside, it was easy to make me a scapegoat, be it the media or the coaches, whatever. But at least the fans were always behind me, they supported me. I can’t say anything against them,” Werner continued.
From his point of view, one reason for his lower game shares and his growing dissatisfaction was the commitment of star striker Romelu Lukaku, who switched to Chelsea in 2021. “Romelu was a great striker and had to play after costing so much,” said the 55-cap international. “I didn’t feel valued enough.” That was “the hardest moment” for him.
In retrospect, Werner also described his start in London in the middle of the corona pandemic as not very easy. “In the first months nothing was open. I sat at home the whole time, spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve alone to fully concentrate on the games,” revealed the 26-year-old. “Of course it was hard.” Maybe that’s why it didn’t work so well for him. “Maybe it would have been different in real life, with family and friends around me.”
When asked whether, in retrospect, he would have decided against a move to Chelsea and a transfer to Liverpool, which also made an offer for Werner in the summer of 2020, the right-footer said: “It’s hard to say, the door after Liverpool were never really closed in those two years before I joined Chelsea. But there were a lot of points back then that made my move to Liverpool impossible. Covid was a big deal with many clubs unable to spend money while Chelsea were able to go ‘all in’ for players. But regret something? It is too late.”
Werner, Baku & Co.: Bundesliga professionals with the greatest market value losses in 2022
With Donyell Painting & Sadio Mané…
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These are the 15 Bundesliga professionals with the greatest market value losses in 2022!
15 Dan Axel Zagadou – VfB Stuttgart, BVB | Loss: 9 million euros
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Current market value: €5 million, down 64.3% since the beginning of 2022
14 Dani Olmo – RB Leipzig | -€10m
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Market value: €40m, -20.0% YTD
13 Edmond Tapsoba – Bayer Leverkusen | -€10m
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Market value: €30m, -25.0% YTD
11 Angelino – Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig | -€10m
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Market value: €20m, -33.3% YTD
11 Donyell Malen – BVB | -€10m
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Market value: €20m, -33.3% YTD
10 Abdou Diallo – RB Leipzig, PSG | -€10m
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Market value: €15m, -40.0% YTD
9 Yussuf Poulsen – RB Leipzig | -€11m
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Market value: €11m, -52.4% YTD
8 Thorgan Hazard – BVB | -€11m
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Market value: €11m, -55.0% YTD
6 Silas – VfB Stuttgart | -€12m
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Market value: €13m, -48.0% YTD
6 Ridle Baku – VfL Wolfsburg | -€12m
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Market value: €13m, -48.0% YTD
5 Sardar Azmoun – Bayer Leverkusen | -€13m
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Market value: €12m, -52.0% YTD
4 Andre Silva – RB Leipzig | -€14m
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Market value: €24m, -36.8% year-to-date
3 Raphael Guerreiro – BVB | -€15m
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Market value: €20 million, -42.9% year-to-date
2 Sadio Mane – Bayern Munich, Liverpool | -€20m
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Market value: €20m, -25.0% YTD
1 Timo Werner – RB Leipzig, Chelsea | Loss: €25 million
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Market value: €25m, -50.0% YTD
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