"Looking to get out of there" - Craig Burley says 26-year-old Chelsea star is 'short on confidence' and wants to exit club

Chelsea striker Timo Werner is being linked with a departure from Stamford Bridge this summer, having failed to establish himself at the club since joining them in 2020. Former Blues midfielder Craig Burley believes the German will look to seal a move away as he is short on confidence.

“I think it’s a player who is doubting to do it at this club,” the former Chelsea midfielder told ESPN. “He’s got a shortage of confidence. He had his mate with him, who was the same, in Lukaku.

“It hasn’t worked for him, thus far. When Tuchel talks about him trying to get that consistency, it’s exactly what frustrates the Chelsea fans.

“He is the type of striker, at the moment, to get five or six clear-cut chances to get one goal. It just seems to be that he is thinking in his own head, looking at it from the outside and reading his words, that he is looking to get out of there."

Timo Werner's situation at Chelsea is quite a difficult one. Blues coach Thomas Tuchel outrightly prefers to play without a proper striker instead of fielding the German in the lineup amid his struggles in front of goal.

With the FIFA World Cup set to be played in Qatar this year, Craig Burley believes Timo Werner will be looking to join another club to get playing time and fight for a spot in the national team. He said:

“When he is talking about playing time and World Cups. I think he wants an early exit – that form from RB Leipzig and the German national team isn’t falling onto this club.

“If Timo Werner is thinking about game time, when you have just loaned your £100 million striker and you don’t have another frontman, and a Germany international is worried about game time?! That’s concerning for me.”

Timo Werner's numbers for Chelsea so far

What does the future hold for the striker?

Much was expected from the German when he joined the Blues from RB Leipzig in a deal worth €53 million in the summer of 2020. Unfortunately, he has failed to replicate the brilliance he showed during his time in the Bundesliga in the Premier League.

So far, he has made 89 appearances for Chelsea across all competitions, recording a paltry 21 goals and 23 assists. As it stands, it looks like the striker is closing in on the end of the road at Stamford Bridge. It remains to be seen what his next step will be.