Timo Werner: 10 things on the jet-heeled RB Leipzig and Germany striker
He made history in the Bundesliga, won the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea before a Bundesliga return with RB Leipzig. bundesliga.com presents 10 things on the turbo-charged Timo Werner...
At 27 years of age, the Germany striker is one of just four active players to have notched 100 Bundesliga goals, along with Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus and Thomas Müller, but there have been plenty of other highlights in his turbo-charged career...
1) Stuttgart starting blocks
Before he was tearing it up at Leipzig and Chelsea, Werner was making waves with boyhood club VfB Stuttgart. After joining Die Schwaben at the age of six, he wrote his name into Cannstadt folklore as the club's youngest ever debutant and goalscorer. He later became the Bundesliga's youngest player to score a brace and reach 50 appearances, all before the age of 19. By 23, he had become the youngest man to rack up 200 top-flight outings, even marking the occasion with his 75th Bundesliga goal against Cologne.
2) Fastest feet first
After leaving for England, Werner produced 23 goals and 21 assists in 89 matches for Chelsea between 2020 and 2022, getting his hands on the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. He also made history as the club's fastest Champions League scorer by striking after only 82 seconds against Zenit in the 2021/22 group stage.
3) Mama knows best
An interview with Werner — in either English or German — is an entertaining and informative experience, not one plagued by the usual football clichés. For that, you can partly thank his mother as she pushed Timo to finish school, and he passed his final exams!
"I could have focused solely on football, but my mother really wanted me to finish school," he explained to bundesliga.com. "I never considered not doing it to be honest. That wouldn't have been smart. In hindsight, I'm quite proud that I managed to finish school and kick on with my professional football career."
Watch: Timo Werner's 100 Bundesliga goals
4) Destined for great things
His school days behind him, Werner won the Fritz Walter gold medal in 2013 – an annual award given by the German Football Association to outstanding young players – in the U17 category, ahead of Borussia Dortmund star Julian Brandt. He was awarded the silver medal behind Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah in the U19 bracket two years later.
5) Top striker but no top chef
There is one thing he still has not learned how to do. "Takeaway is a good friend of mine," admits Werner, who is not going to win any plaudits for his work in the kitchen. During the Covid-19 lockdowns in England, he acknowledged he only ever rustled up a single dish: Pasta, ham, and ketchup.
He does, however, have a very clear idea of what he does not like. "Sometimes when I saw what my English teammates were eating... I would never have that," he said. "Scrambled eggs with ketchup… what's that all about?"
6) Leipzig rocket fuel
After Stuttgart were relegated in 2016, Werner moved to Leipzig where his talent mushroomed almost overnight. He was the Bundesliga's highest-scoring German on 21 goals in 2016/17 as the promoted upstarts gatecrashed the top four, finishing second behind champions Bayern Munich and qualifying for the Champions League.
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7) A Super Mario fan
Though he is some way off the 71 goals Miroslav Klose netted to finish his career as Germany's all-time leading scorer, Werner is closing in on the 31 struck by his childhood idol Mario Gomez.
"When I was 11 or 12, I used to have posters of Mario on my wall," Werner admitted of the former Stuttgart and Bayern Munich forward, whom he ended up pushing out of the national team squad. "Suddenly, there I was with Mario giving me high-fives and wishing me good luck on playing for Germany instead of him."
8) If the Schuh fits…
As well as Gomez, Werner attributes much of his success to his father Günther Schuh, a former winger for 07 Ludwigsburg and Stuttgarter Kickers.
"When I was little, my Dad would pass me the ball and I would take shots at goal," he recalled. "First he would play it to my right foot, and we'd work on my technique with that, and then to my left. We even ran up mountains together. I learnt quickly that if you want to become a professional, you have to do more."
Watch: Werner reached 100 Bundesliga goals in spectacular fashion
9) Need for speed
Everyone knows that Werner is one of the fastest players in the business. "There's no recipe for it," Werner said of his eye-watering speed – he's been clocked at 11.11 seconds over 100 metres. "The quickest players just know how to do it automatically."
But he admits he would happily go even faster.
"If I could decide whether to be a Formula One driver or a professional footballer, I don't know which one I'd pick," he said, backtracking only a little when it comes to roaring down the track at nearly 200 mph. "I don't like danger, but I think it's fun. Maybe I'd be a bit slower than the others."
10) Country gentleman
Werner's goalscoring form for Die Roten Bullen earned him his first senior cap for Germany in a friendly win over England in March 2017. He then joint-top scored at the Confederations Cup later that summer, helping Joachim Löw's men win the tournament.
He now tallies over 50 caps, and boasts an impressive average of almost one goal every other game for his country. He featured at both the 2018 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2020, but unfortunately missed the 2022 World Cup with injury.
"I really enjoy playing football, no matter where I am," he declared in March 2022.
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