Chelsea striker, Timo Werner has revealed that the comprehensive nature of the Blues’ loss to the European champions, Bayern Munich made him question a potential move to west London.
The Blues had suffered a 3-0 loss at home against the Bundesliga champions before COVID-19 lockdown led to the postponement of the return leg. But he later joined the Blues in a deal worth £47.5 million ($60m) from RB Leipzig in June.
Werner had been linked with Bayern, Liverpool and Real Madrid, but Frank Lampard managed to persuade the forward that Stamford Bridge was the best place for him to embark on the next stage of his career.
The Blues has reinforced its squad and have spent over £200m ($254m) in total on new signings this summer. This is a statement that the club wants to contest from trophies this season having ended the 2019-20 campaign without a trophy.
Chelsea finished fourth in the Premier League and also reaching the FA Cup final. Bayern handed them an early exit in the Champions League at the last-16 stage after a 7-1 aggregate defea.
Why Timo Werner question his Chelsea move
Having faced Bayern in the German Bundesliga since the promotion of Leipzig to the top flight, Werner said they have always had a close game against the treble winners.
Seeing Chelsea suffering a 3-0 loss against Bayern on their own turf made him question his potential switch to the Premier League club.
Speaking with Sport Bild journalist Christian Falk, he admitted thinking about the move.
“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t like that. The 3-0 home defeat of Chelsea in the first leg against Bayern hadn’t exactly spoken in favour of going to London.
“I have to say that openly, because with Leipzig we always played very good and close games against Bayern.”
The striker was, however, impressed with the way the Blues bounced back to finish the campaign strongly. This made the 24-year-old to change his mind about joining the club before their 4-1 second-leg loss at Allianz Arena.
“By showing Chelsea the weak points, the club was able to work on the pieces of the puzzle in order to catch up with the future Champions League winners Bayern. That’s what Chelsea did.”
During his his first two Premier League outings for Chelsea against Brighton and Liverpool, Werner impressed, but is still on the lookout for his first goal in Chelsea colours.
He will get another opportunity at the Hawthorns against West Brom this weekend, when they will be aiming to bounce back from their defeat to reigning Premier League champions Liverpool last time out.
