“Did a dirty job”: Chelsea legend labels 25-year-old star as the reason why Tuchel won the Champions League

Ginafranco Zola showers Timo Werner with praise and credits him for Chelsea winning the UCL

Speaking to Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb via Sport Witness (h/t Metro), Gianfranco Zola highlighted that Timo Werner was the reason why Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League title last season.

The Blues entered a different gear under Thomas Tuchel and took down some of the biggest names in world football to win their 2nd UEFA Champions League trophy as beat Manchester City in the final.

Werner missed just 1 of their 13 UCL games last season, which came in the last-16 second-leg against FC Porto. However, he scored just once in the knockout stages – against Real Madrid in the semi-finals.

Regardless of that, Zola, who spent 6 years between 1997 and 2003 at Chelsea during his heyday, mentioned that Werner’s role is underrated, and he was the reason why they are European champions.

Werner doing the dirty job

“Chelsea had an extraordinary season last year, but the focus was always on the fact that they lacked a goalscorer. They often created chances, and in some games, they were quite penalised. Lukaku comes in to fill that gap, but I liked Chelsea the way they were. Werner did a dirty job for everyone else, and the reason they won the Champions League is because he put others in a position to do well.”

Zola’s interview comes in the backdrop of Chelsea being linked with a move for Inter Milan striker, Romelu Lukaku. If the Belgian does join the Blues, Werner’s game time could be limited.

Or, Tuchel can incorporate both of them in his system. But that is something we would only be able to see if the former Chelsea and Manchester United striker moves to Stamford Bridge.

More Chelsea News:

• Tino Anjorin and Trevoh Chalobah earn praise from Thomas Tuchel after Chelsea vs Tottenham
• Transfer News: Thomas Tuchel wants Chelsea to sign a striker
• Transfer News: Southampton enter the race for Tammy Abraham

Even if he doesn’t, there is nothing wrong with putting trust in Werner. For his first-ever season outside Germany, the 25-year-old German did fairly well and deserves at least one more year to prove his worth.