It is the summer of 2022, and Chelsea have just enjoyed a decent season under Thomas Tuchel, finishing third in the Premier League and winning the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
That summer, BlueCo completed their takeover from Roman Abramovich, and now-England boss Tuchel is looking to take Chelsea a step higher, to compete for the Premier League and Champions League titles.
Some tough decisions are made that summer regarding transfers. Chelsea, under Boehly, spent north of £700m on transfers with Enzo Fernandez, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, and Mykhailo Mudryk arriving.
Who has been the worst signing of the Todd Boehly era at Chelsea? 👎
Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all have to be contenders…
Chelsea's Raheem Sterling celebrates scoring his side's first goal with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
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Despite the enormous outlay, Chelsea don’t actually sell many players. Their biggest sale of the 22-23 season is just £25m. Fast forward to now, and the player sold for £25m is set to move to America’s MLS.
Timo Werner is set for MLS move and he’s not even 30 yet
Germany international Timo Werner was linked with plenty of clubs after scoring 34 goals in 2019-20, and he opted to join Chelsea. But after two years in London, Werner was on the move, scoring just 23 goals.
Chelsea v Wolverhampton Wanderers - Premier League
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Bought for £47.5m, Werner was offloaded back to Leipzig for almost half of Chelsea’s outlay, just £25m. He scored 16 goals in his first season back, but injury and a dismal Tottenham loan have hampered him.
He’s managed just 42 league appearances over the last three seasons for Leipzig and Tottenham, and, having played just three times this term, Werner is set to complete a surprise move to the United States.
Still 29 until March, the 57-time Germany star is about to sign on the dotted line and move permanently to MLS side San Jose Earthquakes, as per Fabrizio Romano. It is unclear how much Werner will cost.
If Chelsea only make one signing in January, who should it be?👀
Vinicius Jr. is off the table…
Vinicius Jr. hasn't had talks with Chelsea
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Why Chelsea sold Timo Werner just two years after £47.5m move
This is a player who has enormous potential. Coming through at Stuttgart and then starring at Leipzig, Werner would win north of 50 caps for his country and remains Leipzig’s all-time record goalscorer.
Speaking a few months after he left, Werner explained that the decision to sign Romelu Lukaku meant Werner was not going to get regular game time, and he opted to go ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
As per the Evening Standard, he said: “The biggest problem was [Tuchel] put a striker like Lukaku in front of me in the second season after I won the Champions League by nearly playing every game.”
Now, Werner joins a side that finished 10th in the 20-club Western Conference last season and are now managed by American icon Bruce Arena. Their first league game is in the early hours of February 22.
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