Published 19:08 IST, June 29th 2020
Timo Werner reveals why he won't play for RB Leipzig in the Champions League
Timo Werner revealed why he won't feature for RB Leipzig in the upcoming Champions League knockout fixtures in August after agreeing to join Chelsea on July 1.
RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner sealed a sensational move to Chelsea this month after the Blues chose to activate the German's release clause ahead of the summer transfer window. Werner was linked with a move to Premier League champions Liverpool for the better part of 2020, but Frank Lampard cashed in on the chance to sign the versatile striker. The 24-year-old became the leading scorer in RB Leipzig's history on Saturday but opted out of featuring for Leipzig in the Champions League restart in August.
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Timo Werner to Chelsea: Striker reveals why he won't play for RB Leipzig in the Champions League
Timo Werner will become a Chelsea player on July 1 following his £47 million move, even though RB Leipzig’s season won’t have finished by then, with the Bundesliga club still active in the postponed Champions league. Many players across Europe have signed short-term deals with their clubs that will last until the rest of the postponed season, including Pedro and Willian, both who are plying their trade for Timo Werner's new club, Chelsea. The 24-year-old, however, won't sign a short term deal and will instead join up with his new teammates on July 1 and has defended his decisions to miss RB Leipzig’s Champions League campaign.
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Speaking to Sportbuzzer, Timo Werner said that it hurts him that he won't be able to help RB Leipzig during their Champions League campaign, but revealed that he is a Chelsea player from July 1 and will be paid by the Blues from then on. The 24-year-old added that the situation about the Champions League was clear to all parties - Chelsea, RB Leipzig and himself. The lightning-quick striker added that he tried to keep out of the Champions League issue as much as he could, but in the end, one side had to get hurt, which made his agent Karlheinz Forster finally agree on it with the clubs.
Timo Werner to Chelsea: Timo Werner Champions League and RB Leipzig record
RB Leipzig signed Timo Werner for a reported transfer fee of €10 million in the summer of 2016 after his boyhood club VfB Stuttgart were relegated from the Bundesliga. Since then, Werner has been prolific for Die Roten Bullen, scoring a club record 95 goals in just 159 appearances. The 24-year-old scored four times and assisted two more in his debut campaign in the Champions League, helping RB Leipzig book a place in the quarter-final of the competition, beating last year's finalists, Tottenham. Timo Werner to Chelsea will be a huge boost to Frank Lampard and Blues fans, with the club having failed to replace talismanic centre-forward, Diego Costa, since his move to Atletico Madrid in 2017.
(Image Credit: RB Leipzig English Twitter)
Updated 19:08 IST, June 29th 2020