Chelsea forward Timo Werner admits to having mixed emotions as he approaches the conclusion of the worst and unluckiest season of his career.
The Germany international joined Chelsea from RB Leipzig last June for a fee in the region of £45million (€50m) with a reputation of being one of the most prolific attackers in Europe.
He scored 34 goals and supplied 12 assists in 45 appearances in all competitions for Leipzig in 2019-20, departing as the club s all-time leading scorer with 95 goals in total.
Werner has not been able to scale the same heights in his maiden campaign in English football, though, the 25-year-old scoring 12 times in 51 appearances in 2020-21.
— Timo Werner (@TimoWerner)
However, Werner has also contributed 15 assists and is the first Chelsea player since Eden Hazard in 2018-19 to both score and assist 10 or more goals in a single season.
And while the former Leipzig man accepts more will be required of him next season, he is keen to take some positives from the 2020-21 campaign, which concludes with Saturday s Champions League final against Manchester City.
In terms of scoring and missing chances, it was the worst season, but in the end I still have 27 goal contributions, he told The Telegraph.
I think I m the first in our team for that, so it was not everything bad.
A lot of people s expectations for me outside the club but also inside were very high because of my goalscoring record. I also assisted many goals last year in my old club.
But I think the main reason why they brought me here in the club is to score and maybe at the end 12 goals and six goals in the Premier League, that s not good enough.
You have to say that I have 12 goals and 15 assists or something like that in every competition and 27 goal contributions – that s not so bad in what s maybe my unluckiest season.
It is also maybe my worst season I ve had for many years. If I m scoring next season, hopefully, maybe people will become happier with me.
Timooooooooooooooooo
So good to see Werner scoring again at the Bridge!
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Werner has gone on runs of 13 and 14 matches without scoring for club and country at various points this season.
During that most recent barren streak, which ended with a winning goal against West Ham last month, Werner says he started to lose faith in himself.
I had these two or three games after the international break where I missed a lot of chances and that was in my head. After this my confidence was gone, he said.
It was like a period where in my head I was going crazy because I missed those chances.
Werner s shot conversion rate of 7.59 in the Premier League this term was substantially lower than the likes of Edinson Cavani (29.41), Gareth Bale (28.95) and Alexandre Lacazette (28.89), who led the way among forwards.
Chelsea have been linked with a number of high-profile strikers to lead their line from next season, but Werner insists he has no intention of moving on during the transfer window.
I don t think about leaving the club this year, for sure not, and also for the next year, he said.
