Chelsea’s in-house Erling Haaland alternatives, part one: The flash

Chelsea is probably not signing Erling Haaland. Dortmund was never keen on selling even with a much lower transfer clause going active next summer. The Blues could yet break the bank for Haaland, but it seems increasingly unlikely that the club shells out upwards of 200 million for club and agents just to stay ahead of competition. They’ll continue to try but there is a growing sense that Dortmund will always say no and Chelsea’s point has been made.

The easy (read: normal Chelsea) would be to just find an alternative stop gap for a year. That would be a mistake. Chelsea needs goals but they may already be sitting on them after a full preseason. The first to consider in this four part series is the most obvious: Timo Werner. The flash.

Why could Timo Werner be an alternative?

The first season in a new league is hard. The first season in a new league during a global pandemic and in one of the busiest seasons of all time is very hard. Werner had plenty of issues last season but there are very good reasons for those issues. And, despite those issues, he still produced.

Werner was involved in 37 goals last season across 52 matches. Should he return to a new season more settled, that number will surely rise. The offsides will drop and the whiffs are sure to turn into something better. He’s had a summer more or less off to get away, calm down, and get ready.

He might also be bolstered by the support of Thomas Tuchel. No matter how Werner did last season, he was given another chance. Even with the notion of Erling Haaland signing, it was never seen to be at the expense of Werner. He’s seen as a key player going forward and that support should only give the player more confidence.

Werner also suits Chelsea’s style well. He’s comfortable drifting wide and leaving the center for others. He’s always ready to receive a through ball when Chelsea goes more direct. And he is more than willing to lead the press. He ticks most if not all the boxes for a striker leading the line for Tuchel.

Why Werner might not be an alternative?

Many have tried to make Werner a lone striker and it just isn’t his game ultimately. He’s a secondary striker that plays at his best playing off another striker, either in a pair or from the “wing”. He rarely looks comfortable leading the line on his own and is often found out wide with no one to fill the space for him.

Furthermore, that goal involvement tally of his is heavily weighted towards assists. Goals are goals no matter who scores them, but few clubs want their striker to have less goals than assists. Perhaps even more so is that those numbers are what they are because he was allowed to play so much. Others have better goals per minutes and assists per minutes ratios. With Werner, it was a case of volume, not quality.

Perhaps the biggest concern of all is that the Premier League is simply not his game. He would hardly be the first striker (at Chelsea or elsewhere) to do well in other leagues but struggle in the Premier League. If he doesn’t start the season hot and stay hot, it’s not hard to see his confidence dropping and the new season being a repeat of the last.

Ultimately, with Werner there are still a lot of questions as to whether he can lead the line for Chelsea. It also seems to make the most sense to have him play the role he is most comfortable with (secondary striker) rather than try to make him the lone man up top. Should Haaland not sign, Werner could do a job, but would it be the job that’s best for him?

Let us know what you think on Twitter and in the comments and stay tuned for the next three parts of this series!