Werner, Ziyech set to join up with Chelsea in July; Willian and Pedro on way out?
Friday 19 June 2020 12:15, UK
Frank Lampard is overhauling Chelsea's frontline, with Timo Werner the latest addition to an increasingly exciting strike force in west London.
The Blues pulled off a coup on Thursday by confirming they had won the race for the signature of the highly-rated and much sought-after Germany attacker.
Werner - a pacey forward able to play across the front line and only outscored by Robert Lewandowski over the past four Bundesliga seasons - had been coveted by Europe's top sides and underlined his ability with another sumptuous finish on Wednesday night against Fortuna Dusseldorf.
That strike took the 24-year-old's tally to 32 goals and 13 assists in 43 appearances for RB Leipzig this season, where he will play out the remaining two games of the Bundesliga season before linking up with his new Chelsea team-mates in July.
Hakim Ziyech, 27, will also complete his switch to Chelsea at the start of next month, with the tricky Ajax attacking midfielder's £33.3m move finally going through after being agreed in February.
With Willian, 31, and seemingly Roma-bound Pedro, 32, looking set to depart the club at the end of their contracts which expire this summer, Lampard and Chelsea have moved swiftly and decisively in the transfer market to refresh their options in the wide attacking roles.
Last summer's transfer ban and a surprisingly quiet January window left Chelsea in a financially strong position to move for their prime targets and in Werner and Ziyech they have been able to add two world-class recruits.
With Werner favouring the left flank at Leipzig and Ziyech coming in from the right at Ajax, Tammy Abraham looks set to be given the responsibility through the centre. With pace and skill either side of him, it's an enviable role and Lampard will be expecting the 22-year-old to step up his goal tally again after hitting the net 13 times in 25 Premier League appearances so far this season.
Despite that impressive record, Abraham has been guilty of missing good opportunities - particularly at Stamford Bridge - and Lampard has made a point of highlighting his disappointment in his team's finishing at times this term.
The stats show Chelsea are behind only Manchester City and Liverpool when it comes to creating clear-cut openings. But they are down in 15th when it comes to taking those big chances, with a conversation rate barely better than bottom of the table Norwich.
Assist machine Ziyech - he has 51 of them over the past four seasons in Holland - will provide the defence-splitting passes. Now Lampard will look to Werner and Abraham - two young forwards who will be expected to keep on improving - to finish things off.
It's an exciting prospect for Chelsea supporters, who can look back on a largely encouraging season of development which could end with FA Cup silverware but should certainly end in qualification to the Champions League - although a 3-0 deficit to Bayern Munich looks too great a hurdle to overcome in the last 16 of this year's competition.
It could get even better this summer with attacking midfielder Kai Havertz another potential target while Leicester's Ben Chilwell is reportedly a player Lampard would like to fill a troublesome left-back slot.
But behind Werner, Abraham and Ziyech, there is Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic too - and that's some considerable talent at Lampard's disposal.
With Willian and Pedro likely to move on, and the futures of Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi uncertain, the Chelsea attack is being refreshed and replenished with some of the most exciting players in Europe.
Werner has agreed to join Chelsea but what happened to his much-touted move to Liverpool? Sky Sports News reporter Kaveh Solhekol explains why Jurgen Klopp's hopes of signing the German forward collapsed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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