sport news Timo Werner is back firing for RB Leipzig, Man City should be wary of the ... trends now

Timo Werner's spell at Chelsea is generally remembered, perhaps a little unfairly, as a flop.

Despite winning a Champions League and Club World Cup in his two seasons at Stamford Bridge, the German striker was often ridiculed for missing open chances.

He scored 23 goals in 89 games for the Blues, including just 10 across two league campaigns, and returned to his previous club RB Leipzig for £25 million last summer, £20m less than he had arrived for.

The 27-year-old's failure in England had always been something of a mystery given his excellent record in Germany, and since returning to the Bundesliga has looked somewhere near his best again.

As Manchester City prepare for a second Champions League leg against Werner's side, Sportsmail takes a look at why they should be wary of the striker.

Werner has been vocal about his struggles in West London since his exit last summer.

 He felt that Chelsea's then-manager Thomas Tuchel lost all confidence in him despite his role in their 2021 UCL victory, where Werner started up front as they beat City 1-0 in the final.

 'The biggest problem was he put a striker like [Romelu] Lukaku in front of me in the second season after I won the Champions League by nearly playing every game in the first squad', Werner told the Sun last month. 

'When you come from the kind of success I had in Germany or with Chelsea - playing nearly every game in the first season, winning the Champions League in 2021, scoring in the semi-final against Real Madrid, making a lot of goals.

'Then all this gets a little bit forgotten by the manager, it was not really fair. That was also a reason I had to move back to Leipzig, to get the enjoyment again.'

The striker's problems were more complex than he makes out. He returned six times less goals in his first Premier League season than he did in the year before leaving Germany, so Tuchel was justified in bringing in a new number nine.

However, Werner's lack of confidence seemed to stem from never really feeling accepted at Chelsea. He was seen as a hard-working and honest striker, but lacked the conviction in front of goal to become a star for the club.

His excellent record at Leipzig (now 108 goals in 188 games) has come in a side where he has always been a key player.

Werner also struggled with the physicality of English football and famously said he had 'never played against three massive defenders before' after making his Premier League debut against Brighton.