Time for “change” 

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Timo Werner is headed to the San Jose Earthquakes. Transfermarkt can confirm multiple reports that the 29-year-old former German national team player is set to sign a deal with the Major League Soccer club. Sources have told Transfermarkt that the RB Leipzig striker has been given leave by his current club to complete a deal with another club. German outlet Bild first reported San Jose Earthquakes’ interest in Werner in December. Then, earlier this week, The Athletic and Fabrizio Romano reported that a deal was now imminent and that Werner will sign as a Designated Player.

“He always conducted himself professionally and correctly,” Leipzig director of sport Marcel Schäfer said to Sky ahead of the winter break. “Despite that, I think he wants more playing time, and we have discussed with him that it is perhaps time for a change.” With Leipzig being hit by the injury bug, Werner came off the bench in his club’s 3-1 defeats to Union Berlin and Bayer Leverkusen ahead of the winter break. Altogether, Werner has played 12 minutes for Leipzig this season.

After bursting on the scene with RB Leipzig in 2016/17, Werner quickly emerged as one of the hottest forward prospects in European football. Following a 2019/20 campaign in which he scored 28 goals in 34 Bundesliga games, Werner joined Chelsea in a deal worth €53m. The forward would score 23 goals and 21 assists in 89 games across all competitions with Chelsea and win the Champions League with the club in 2021. Despite a decent scoring record, Werner struggled for playing time and returned to Leipzig in 2022.

Timo Werner: How did it all go wrong in Leipzig?

In hindsight, that transfer was a mistake. Werner managed just nine goals and four assists in 27 games in 2022/23. It would be the high point. Halfway through the following season, Werner returned to the Premier League, joining Tottenham, but scored just three goals and seven assists in 41 games across all competitions.Much of Werner’s downfall can be traced back to the premature Leipzig return. Not only did Werner struggle to score consistently, but his old club, now his new one, had moved on to a new crop of faster, more multidimensional players.

The hope was that a move to Tottenham would help restore his confidence and goalscoring attributes, but that didn’t happen either. Ahead of the season, Werner returned from his loan at the London club but wasn’t in the plans of new Leipzig boss Ole Werner. Leipzig are in a complete rebuild this season after missing out on European football for the first time since being promoted to the Bundesliga ahead of the 2016/17 season. The club signed young and dynamic forwards like Yan Diomande, Conrad Harder, and Johan Bakayoko.

With Werner drawing a significant salary, Leipzig looked to offload the forward, and Transfermarkt understands that the Bundesliga club won’t receive much in terms of a transfer fee for Werner, who ranks among the top five most expensive German players in history. A transfer to sister club, New York Red Bulls, was vetoed by the player. But with his market difficult, Werner has now agreed to join the Quakes as a Designated Player. In San Jose, he will be asked to fill the void left by the productive Josef Martínez and Cristian Espinoza. Maybe being out of the spotlight will help, though, as this is Werner’s final chance to rekindle what was once a promising career.