“It was little things which were a bit funny” – Timo Werner explains how life changed for Chelsea players after sanctions were imposed on Roman Abramovich

Chelsea forward Timo Werner has explained how life has been different at the club since sanctions were imposed on former owner Roman Abramovich.

The west London club have been operating on a special license since mid-April following the British government's decision to seize Abramovich's assets due to his ties with Vladimir Putin, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Chelsea have been forced to swap five-star hotels and luxury travel for something a bit more subdued.

Werner admitted the transition has taken some getting used to. The German international spoke about the situation at Chelsea and told The Mirror:

“For example, our bags and stuff had to be out of our rooms by 11 am when we had a Champions League game where before our bags could stay in the room for as long as we stay in the room. It was little things which were a bit funny. Not things to worry about. We felt we couldn’t come to the game with two buses anymore, we had to be a bit closer together."

"We had to save money at some points, which is different to what we were used to in the hotel and somewhere else. Of course, we heard a lot in the press and the media. What’s going on, who is the new owner, what happens if we don’t find a new owner. I think the club did a very good job to keep everything away from us as much as possible.”

---

Timo Werner discusses relentless Chelsea schedule

The 26-year-old forward has endured a disappointing season at Stamford Bridge, having scored just 11 times in his 37 appearances.

However, the former RB Leipzig striker has claimed that it's difficult to reflect on previous encounters when there are so many games to play in a short space of time. He explained:

“It’s always a bit weird when you have so many games, you have to switch from a bad mood to a good mood for the next game. But it helps a lot to only concentrate on the next game and not be too excited or too frustrated over the last game and what happened. That’s not so bad because you have to always think about the next game, next game, next game and that maybe helps a bit to keep your head up."

"It can help your mental strength not to be focused on the past games. I think, on the one hand, it’s good that we have so many games because another game is coming, you can’t think about the last game. But on the other hand, you can’t celebrate a good game because the next game is coming.”