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Werner was critical of Tuchel's decision to sign Lukaku after the forward had helped Chelsea win the UCL in his first season
Former Chelsea forward Timo Werner has spoken up about the latter part of his career with the Blues, including Thomas Tuchel ditching him for the more expensive Romelu Lukaku in his second and final season in England.
Werner feels unfairly treated at Chelsea
Timo Werner spent two seasons at Chelsea after joining RB Leipzig, winning the UEFA Champions League with the Blues in his first season.
He finished his first season at the club with 12 goals and 15 assists, including a goal against Real Madrid in the UCL final. He was a valued team member, playing in 52 matches for Chelsea, including all 38 Premier League games.
Still, after Chelsea signed Romelu Lukaku for a club-record fee, he saw his game time reduced and watched as his manager slowly lost faith in him.
The ordeal was heartbreaking for Werner and he remembers the period while speaking to SunSports, saying, “When you come from the kind of success I had in Germany or with Chelsea — playing nearly every game in the first season, winning the Champions League in 2021, scoring in the semi-final against Real Madrid, making a lot of goals.
“Then all this gets a little bit forgotten by the manager, it was not really fair.”
Werner’s problems started with Chelsea signing Lukaku
Werner believes his problems started with Chelsea signing Lukaku for a then club-record £97.5 million and were compelled to play the Belgian ahead of him, causing him to lose confidence.
“The biggest problem was he put a striker like Lukaku in front of me in the second season after I won the Champions League by nearly playing every game in the first squad.
“That was the toughest moment for me to get a player, a very good player, in front of me for 120million euros. Romelu was a big striker and had to play after costing so much and I didn’t feel honoured enough.
“Maybe that was also a reason why I had ups and downs.”
In Werner’s second season with Chelsea, Tuchel’s scapegoating and lack of faith in him caused his form to drop and he only managed 11 goals and five assists after playing only 37 games, starting only 24 times all season.
He saw his game time drop by more than 1500 minutes and decided that he would be better off leaving Chelsea.
He moved back to RB Leipzig in the summer of 2022 and is now back to enjoying his football under a manager who trusts him.
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