RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner has revealed he chose to move to Chelsea as he feels they are incredibly similar to his current club.
Chelsea completed a move for the highly-sought-after striker last month, with some claiming they beat Liverpool and Manchester United to his signature.
The player’s decision to move to Stamford Bridge came as a shock to many, with reports consistently linking him with a move to Liverpool over the last year.
Indeed, some have questioned why he has elected to join Frank Lampard’s side when there was likely more attractive offers on the table.
Werner, though, says that their likeness to his current club played a significant role in helping him to decide.
“Why specifically Chelsea? Okay I have come to love playing football, and I’ve come to love playing football here in Leipzig,” he told Leipzig’s official YouTube channel.
“I just wanted to try something new for myself. I want to learn a new language and experience a different environment.
“Why, Chelsea? I think that Chelsea has similarities to Leipzig.
“They have a young team, just like us. They have a young and ambitious coach, who one hand was very friendly and likeable during our talks.
“He can really convince you to join. But he also really understands football. When you combine that with young players, but also some world champions and star players…
“And then add in the fact that it’s perhaps an even bigger club than Leipzig. All these things combine to make me go: ‘Okay, it’s time to call it a day in Leipzig.”
While it was Lampard who did most of the work to convince Werner to join Chelsea, he was also aided by Antonio Rüdiger.
The German centre back is well known to Werner, with the pair having played together at Stuttgart and for Germany national team.
Naturally, then, he was the first one Werner called when the Chelsea move appeared, and the striker revealed just what the Blues defender had to say.
“Yes, of course, I spoke to him. I’ve known him for a long time, seven years now,” he added.
“He is a leading player there and knows all there and knows all there is to know – I think he played there for two or three years already.
“So there wasn’t really a better person I could talk to than him. I asked him what it’s like, what the environment is like, what the coach is like…
“He was positive about it all. It would have been strange for him to say different, though!
“He was full of prise. He said that the city was incredible and that you can only be happy there. So it was useful to be able to talk to him, and he really helped me in making my decision.”
