The former Bundesliga star has no fears about adapting to a slightly tougher division and new environment
Chelsea’s new signing Timo Werner “wants no excuses” as he aims to hit the ground running and ensure his side are competitive against Liverpool this weekend.
The Germany international made his debut on Monday and did well against Brighton despite not scoring, but he wants to build on that with another positive performance against Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Klopp himself had admitted interest in signing the former RB Leipzig striker but the coronavirus pandemic led the Anfield club to take a cautious approach to the transfer market.
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That allowed Chelsea to steal and meet his £47.5 million ($61m) release clause, and now the 24-year-old wants to repay Frank Lampard’s side and the faith shown in him as soon as he can.
“I don’t know [if I need time to adapt],” Werner said. “I think maybe yes, but maybe not. I think the football in the Premier League fits me very well.
“In the games against Brighton I saw them sometimes sit deep and not leave much space. Other times there was a lot of space for my runs and movement – that can be good for me.
“It depends on the game, how stretched the defenders are. The football is more about power and strength. It could be that I have to adapt a bit for a few games. In the end, I want to play, play well, score and win.
“I maybe will need two or three games but I want to be as good as possible. I want no excuses about needing to adapt for 10 or 15 games because it is possible. We want to win and you can’t have a player who needs a long time to adapt.
“I want to come into the league and be the best Timo I can be as soon as possible.”
That confidence shown from Werner could serve his team well but it comes as Lampard has dampened expectations despite his side’s £200m ($252m) outlay in the transfer market.
The Blues were pleased with their 3-1 win away at Brighton but it was far from a complete performance as Lampard bedded in new signings at the Amex Stadium.
Furthermore, the Blues have been hit by problems with quarantines around the Covid-19 crisis, while they also have had a shorter pre-season than some of their Premier League rivals. Werner admits that it will be a challenge against Liverpool, who publicly courted him, but he is out to win.
“Liverpool are one of the best teams in the world,” he said. “They won the league last year and have the same team so they will be as strong as last year. It will be a really good challenge for us to test how far we are.
“We have not had such a good pre-season with a lot of players coming back from holiday. A lot of players haven’t played any games since our first game with Brighton, players who can’t train because of travelling.
“All these points make it harder to fight together but I think we handled it very well in the last game. We will improve game by game. We’ll try our best, we want to win every game.
“We have a strong opponent and they have good players, not just Virgil van Dijk. The whole defence of Liverpool is good – they conceded the least goals in the league with great players in every position. We also have great players and I think we have the quality to beat them.
“It will be an interesting game because they had a normal pre-season and we maybe haven’t. It might be a bit better for them but everyone is fit and we can run, run and run. We want to win.
