Werner relishing Chelsea's clash against Liverpool after being linked with summer move to Anfield

Timo Werner admits he is relishing Chelsea’s high-profile clash against Liverpool this weekend, following speculation linking the forward with a move to Merseyside this summer.

The Germany international was strongly linked with a move to Liverpool throughout the summer and reportedly held talks with Jurgen Klopp over a potential deal – the pacey forward openly discussing a move to the Anfield outfit – only for the Reds to withdraw their interest amid a lack of financial resources.

Liverpool’s reluctance to activate the forward’s £50 million release clause allowed Chelsea to steal in and sign the star from RB Leipzig, with Werner making his debut for the west London side in their 3-1 victory at Brighton last weekend.

The German will now come up against his former suitors on Sunday and insists he has no regrets after completing a move to Stamford Bridge, the 24-year-old relishing the opportunity to test himself against ‘one of the best teams in the world’ this weekend.

“I am looking forward to the game because you have a lot of good teams and with Liverpool, one of the best teams in the world,’ Werner told the Chelsea website.

“They won the league last year and they have the same team as last year, so they will be as strong as last year. So it will be a really good challenge for us to see how far we are. We had not so good a pre-season because a lot of players come from holiday, a lot of players didn’t play any games before our first game against Brighton, a lot of players couldn’t play, and that made it a little difficult to fight together but I think for this we did very well.

📊 Timo Werner's PL debut stats:
36 touches, 7 in opposition box
Completed 15/19 passes, 1 chance created
5 shots, 1 on target, 3 blocked
11.53km covered, only N'Golo Kante covered more pic.twitter.com/frfKGL3Eu3

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) September 14, 2020

“We will improve game by game but now we have to play on Sunday and we try to win the game. We are playing against a strong team and they have such good players, not only Virgil van Dijk, the whole defending part of Liverpool are very good. They conceded the least goals in the league and it is a great team in every position.

“But we also have great players and we have the quality to beat them. It will be an interesting game.”

Werner admits he spoke to several clubs after making the decision to leave Leipzig this summer before opting to sign for Chelsea, with the forward insisting he already feels at home in the capital after making a positive start to life in the Premier League.

“When I decided to leave Leipzig I talked to different clubs, next to Chelsea, but I don’t want to talk too much about other clubs because I decide on Chelsea because for me it was the best decision I can take,” he said.

“Not only because of the style of football but because of what they have shown to me. It was a hard decision but I am very excited and proud with what I decided and I am happy I decided like this.

“After one-and-a-half months here it feels right, it feels really good and the team is brilliant. We have some good but calm and nice players. We can do well with this team in the next few months and the next few years.”

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