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Sunday 21 June 2020 14:37, UK
Frank Lampard says he held positive talks with Timo Werner before signing him and is confident the "hugely talented" forward will improve Chelsea next season.
Chelsea confirmed the signing of Werner from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig on Thursday, after the Germany international agreed a five-year deal.
The 24-year-old becomes Lampard's second summer signing - after Ajax's Hakim Ziyech - following Chelsea's decision to pay €50m (£45m) to trigger his release clause.
During an online news conference on Friday, Chelsea head coach Lampard said: "He's clearly a player that we liked. I've certainly followed him for a long time myself individually just because he's a talented player.
"As a club we went for him and he will certainly strengthen us, in my opinion. He's hugely talented, had a fantastic season this year but before that as well.
"Where we couldn't do as much business in the last couple of windows for whatever reasons it's given us a chance to see some youth have more time in the team, but we were very clear about wanting to improve.
"Timo Werner is a signing who will improve us. I'm certainly very excited to have him playing for Chelsea and we look forward to having him."
Werner, who has 93 goals and 40 assists in 157 appearances for RB Leipzig, has developed into one of Europe's most coveted forwards.
He will remain with Leipzig for the remainder of the Bundesliga season before joining up with his new team-mates next month.
Lampard added: "We worked as hard as we could to sign him. I had good conversations with him personally where he hopefully understands what I want to do here with the club in terms of how we work, how we play.
"It seems to have come across as a really exciting project for him because he obviously had some very good options so we're happy with that. We're just pleased that Timo has decided to come to us."
Lampard has acted swiftly in the transfer market to secure the services of Werner and Ziyech, and has also been linked with a move for Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell.
The Chelsea boss refused to comment on that speculation, but did say talks with current players Pedro and Willian regarding short-term contract extensions until the end of the season are continuing.
"They're ongoing and we have until next week to find a solution. It will be good to finish the season with the squad we started with," he said.
Chelsea resume their Premier League season away to Aston Villa on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports, with Lampard's side currently fourth in the table.
They are three points ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United as the battle for the Champions League places takes centre stage, and Lampard is confident his players can finish the campaign strongly - despite difficult circumstances.
"I think there a lot of challenges and a lot of them I think we've already encountered in this short period of trying to get the players fit for these games," Lampard said.
"They were off for a long time, we've had to try and guard against injury whilst getting as fit as we can and I think we'll see that in the early games.
"Everyone is in the same situation and we need to make the players as aware as we can of the challenges that are coming up.
"Things will be different but one thing that pretty much remains the same is the players on the pitch realise what's at stake in these games and performing to the best of their abilities to try and win for Chelsea, so that's the focus and we'll try and take that into every game."
Sky Sports are broadcasting 64 live Premier League games for the 2019/20 season resumption. In addition to the 39 matches already scheduled to be broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports before the coronavirus interruption, 25 more matches will be available on both Sky Sports Premier League and Sky's free-to-air Pick channel, allowing the whole nation to be part of the return of live sport.
To celebrate the return of the Premier League, Sky Sports have also launched a host of innovative new features and updates to give fans an even more immersive experience and share the moments live with family and friends on virtual platforms.
Free-to-watch highlights of every remaining Premier League game this season will be available from shortly after the full-time whistle on the Sky Sports website, Sky Sports App and Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.
