Chelsea v Aston Villa - Carabao Cup Third Round
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Although they currently sit below them in the Premier League table, Liverpool have had a far better time of things than Chelsea in recent times.
The Blues have had a tumultuous few years, jumping from manager to manager and signing a plethora of players, many of whom have badly underwhelmed.
Arguably one of their biggest transfer misses in that time was Timo Werner who, despite winning the Champions League with them, simply did not deliver after joining Chelsea from RB Leipzig in 2020. For years, Werner had been expected to join Liverpool, with the German seemingly a perfect fit for Jurgen Klopp’s style of forward.
Alisson and Virgil van Dijk have made costly mistakes in recent weeks. What should Liverpool do with the pair now that their contracts are set to run out in the summer?
Keep Allison but get rid of Van Dijk?Let both go
Genuinely have to keep both. They are still crucial for us and should be kept at all costs. Sadly I think we’ll lose one, most likely Alisson
Yeah, think I'm on board with that. Finding another Alisson won't be easy..might take a few years for that.. Mama deserves a shot
His move to Stamford Bridge came as a surprise at the time, and he ended up leaving after only two years. Now 30 and playing in MLS for San Jose Earthquakes, Werner has looked back on the possibility of his move to Liverpool, admitting in a new interview that there is some regret, even if just a little, that he did not join the Reds.
Timo Werner addresses Liverpool snub
Liverpool signed Diogo Jota instead of Werner in 2020, and although nobody at the club would ever reverse that decision, it would be fair if the Germany international took a different view of his own path.
Asked by The Late Run podcast whether he thinks his career would have been different, Werner hinted that he has indeed thought plenty about it, but insisted that he wouldn’t change what happened with Chelsea.
“I mean in this time I had a lot of offers from different clubs. And you always think after would it be better there? Would it be better there? What happened if I go there?” he said.
“But at the end, I’m pretty happy how it went. I mean, winning the Champions League, I had a really, really good time at Chelsea. I had I made a lot of friends there.”
READ MORE: Former Liverpool star claims he disliked playing the Reds’ style of football
Later in the interview, Werner opened up a little more, suggesting that Liverpool’s style of play actually would have been a better fit for him.
“We were talking about did I ever regret to going to Liverpool or a different team. I think that was the style how we played at Chelsea. Maybe it was not like the right style for me but it was the right style for our team back in the day,” he said.
“We always have to ask what is right for me, what is right for team? That was right for the team, maybe not the best thing for me. Maybe if I would play at Liverpool or a different team, I would have more of that, like these counter situations. Do I regret it? Maybe, but not really.”
Werner ultimately rejoined Leipzig, where he could not hit the heights of his first spell with the club, before a poor move to Tottenham in 2024. After scoring only three times for Spurs, he now finds himself in America.
Things could have been so different for Werner, and if he did not leave Chelsea with that Champions League winners’ medal, it seems not joining Liverpool would be a huge regret for him.