Timo Werner: Tottenham complete loan signing of RB Leipzig and Germany forward

Tottenham have completed the loan signing of former Chelsea striker Timo Werner from RB Leipzig until the end of the season.

According to Sky in Germany, Tottenham will cover Werner's salary for the rest of the season and the deal has an option to buy of around £15m.

Werner returns to the Premier League after a two-year spell at Chelsea between 2020 and 2022, where he scored 23 times in 89 appearances in all competitions for the Blues.

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The German forward then returned to former club Leipzig at the start of last season and scored 16 goals for the Bundesliga side last term. However, he has been limited to just 14 appearances and two goals in the first half of this season.

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Spurs have boosted their forward line after Heung-Min Son left for the Asia Cup in January, with fellow forward Alejo Veliz out for two months with a knee injury.

Spurs midfielder James Maddison is also at least a couple of weeks from returning to action after an ankle injury.

Werner reveals talks with Ange key to Spurs move

Werner has revealed his talks with boss Ange Posetcoglou were key in the former Chelsea striker joining the club.

The German told SPURSPLAY: "I'm very happy to be here. I've joined a very, very big club.

"The talk with the manager was a really, really good talk. He straightaway gave me the feeling what I need and feel to join a club.

"Also, the tactics, the style, how he wants to play and lets the team play - for me I thought straightaway that it fits perfectly.

"I hope I can be the best player I can be here. I can play every position up front. One of my strengths is to be flexible up front.

"When I left the Premier League I straightaway missed it because it's the best league in the world. I miss London as well, I really settled in here, I loved England and when I left it I really missed it because it's a great city and a great place to be."

Spurned chances at Chelsea extinguished Werner's potential

Sky Sports' Adam Smith:

Timo Werner arrived in the Premier League three-and-a-half years ago with great expectations. His playing style was likened to Mohamed Salah and the forward immediately displayed his direct qualities but struggled to convert chances in front of goal.

The radar below compares Werner's per-90 statistics during his time at Chelsea with his previous three league campaigns in Germany and reveals the only metric that notably changed was his strike rate.

In terms of tangible numbers, Werner scored 10 goals in two Premier League seasons at Chelsea - but should have scored nearly twice that figure, according to expected goals (xG).

The shot map below plots all of his 124 shots for Chelsea in the Premier League, with points coloured in progressive red shades indicating easier chances to convert - revealing a raft of spurned chances in front of goal.

He was deployed in numerous positions across the firing line in an attempt to surface his underlying talent, but he failed to deliver while competing against a host of attacking options vying for starting berths.

Tottenham will hope Werner's second attempt at cracking Premier League football will be a successful one. He will certainly feel he has unfinished business in England.

'A Werner with a point to prove could be dangerous'

Sky Sports News reporter Dharmesh Sheth on Transfer Talk:

The more I look at the deal for Werner, the more I think it makes a lot of sense for Tottenham.

Number one, it seems really low risk. It's a loan with an option so there's no obligation to buy Werner and the end of the loan deal. Secondly, it is a £15m option to buy so on the financial side it makes a lot of sense.

I know Werner had a lot of criticism for his spell at Chelsea but the mentality of the player back then will come into play as well. Maybe he now feels he's got unfinished business in the Premier League and maybe he feels he needs to prove a few people wrong.

That's a really good attitude to come into a new club with and if Tottenham can tap into that then this spell in the Premier League could be a lot more successful for Werner.

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'Risk in the deal all on Werner'

Evening Standard chief football correspondent Dan Kilpatrick on Transfer Talk:

The risk in this deal is all on Werner. If he flops at Spurs and if this loan deal doesn't work, he's probably not going to get another big move.

On the other hand, there's no real risk for Spurs.

The best-case scenario is he gets back to somewhere near his best form and Spurs can sign him for a third of what Chelsea paid for him four years ago.

The worst-case scenario for them is that he doesn't do much. He's probably still an upgrade on Bryan Gil and they just send him back to RB Leipzig in the summer.

There isn't a huge amount of risk here and it strikes me as a canny piece of business with restively little downside.

Follow the January transfer window with Sky Sports

The winter transfer window is now open and will close at 11pm in England and midnight in Scotland on Thursday 1 February, 2024.

To ensure harmonisation with the major leagues in Europe, the closing dates were set following discussions with the EFL, DFL, Serie A, LaLiga, and LFP, who will all close their summer and winter windows on 1 September and 1 February respectively.

Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms, while you can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News, including daily transfer shows, and listen to our Transfer Talk podcast.

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