Bundesliga club consider summer swoop for out-of-form Chelsea ace on £250,000-a-week

Borussia Dortmund identify Chelsea striker Timo Werner as summer transfer target

According to German news outlet Sky Germany (h/t The Sun), Borussia Dortmund have declared Chelsea striker Timo Werner as a potential target for the summer transfer window. He has found life to be difficult at Stamford Bridge, having failed to replicate the form he showed during his RB Leipzig days.

Dortmund are conscious of the potential scenario that awaits them after this season due to the release clause in Erling Haaland’s contract. Moreover, they also want to add some pace to their side, which could probably be one of the reasons for their links with Werner. That being said, the interest in the Premier League star could depend on their pursuit to secure Karim Adeyemi’s services.

The Bundesliga side is weighing up their options at the moment but has not proposed a concrete offer to the Blues. The English club is open to negotiations, but both parties could run into some difficulties due to the expenses involved in a potential move. That is because Thomas Tuchel’s team would not accept a bid much less than the £48million they paid to sign him in 2020.

Werner exit?

The Blues centre-forward has found it hard to put the ball into the net on multiple occasions. His overall attacking play isn’t shabby, but that finishing touch- or the lack of it- often frustrates Chelsea fans. That has been the case this season as well, as he has scored just six goals and assisted twice from 23 matches across all competitions.

Hence, it won’t be a surprise if we do entertain offers for him this summer, especially if we can make our money back on him. After all, Chelsea would want someone who earns around £250,000-per-week to be more lethal in front of the goal.

However, it remains to be seen if both parties could agree to a reasonable sum for the 25-year-old. Moreover, the attacker would probably need to take a salary cut since his wage package is well above Marco Reus’, who is the current top earner at Signal Iduna Park.

That’s not all, as the German club is trying to finalise a deal for Adeyemi but are yet to reach an agreement with Salzburg. Should they complete a transfer for him, we may find it tough to move Werner out back to Germany.

With Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Romelu Lukaku in our ranks, there are options for us to play up front if Werner leaves. That is especially the case after Havertz’s recent role as an occasional number 9 this season.

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If buying Lukaku last summer was the first indication of a potential lack of faith in the German from Tuchel, the second was probably Werner being left on the bench in the Carabao Cup final vs Liverpool. It is hard to see him leading our line regularly once again unless he pulls his socks up and gets back amongst the goals.

That being said, we must be mindful of not weakening our squad depth at any cost. Defence and midfield are already areas where we can do with an addition of depth, and adding the centre-forward position to that would certainly be an added headache.