Forward | RB Leipzig | Germany

Skinny

What is it with Germany and their wonderful history of producing top class forwards? Timo Werner is the latest on the long list of German goal scorers and he is showing real promise of becoming one of the best in the business.

At just 22, Werner may still be young but he can already be considered a seasoned first-team striker at the top level, with almost 175 German top-flight appearances and over 55 Bundesliga goals to his name. That is some record for a forward who is still so early in his career.

Werner is what you would call an all-round modern forward. He is versatile, instinctive, good in the air and with his feet, he reads the game well and has developed a ruthlessness about his attacking play.

RB Leipzig paid Stuttgart around €15m for Wenger back in the summer of 2016 and there is absolutely no doubt that can be considered one of the bargains of the modern era, such is his ongoing improvement.

2018 has been…

… unsurprisingly brilliant.

There will have been many keeping a close eye on Werner heading in to this year as they looked for him to develop his youthful promise in to something a lot more established and consistent. Werner has certainly delivered on that front.

The beginning of the year wasn’t overly impressive for Werner, though, managing to net just nine goals in all competitions after the turn of the year, five of which came in the Bundesliga.

During this current campaign he has built on that with 10 goals in all competitions, 8 of those coming in the league as Leipzig compete for Champions League qualification in the Bundesliga.

On the international stage, it has been less impressive for Werner, but that’s the story for German international football full stop. He made the squad that failed so spectacularly at the World Cup in Russia and despite playing all but four minutes of their group stage matches, was unable to do anything of note.

Two international goals in 13 appearances for Germany in 2018 is nothing to write home about but we can let him off given the circumstances.

What’s next?

Becoming a consistent 20-goal a season striker is not easy but he should secure a third successive year with his goals in the twenties, which will put him alongside some of the elite strikers in Europe.

What happens next won’t be much of a surprise; expect Bayern Munich or any other elite European club to come calling - Leipzig will be powerless in trying keep him.

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