Rio Ferdinand says Chelsea are his favourites to win the Premier League next campaign and is convinced Timo Werner will ‘bang’ in front of goal despite his profligacy in his first season.
The blues have been outstanding since Thomas Tuchel took charge, losing just one of his 15 Premier League games, reaching the semi-final of the Champions League and making to the final of the FA Cup after beating Man City.
They are set to face Real Madrid on Wednesday for the second leg of their semi-final, having secured an important away goal in a 1-1 draw in Spain last week.
Ferdinand has been impressed by Chelsea’s improvement under Tuchel and believes they have already laid down a marker as the club to beat next campaign.
‘Have you seen Chelsea’s stats by the way? Chelsea are my team to win the league next year,’ Ferdinand explained on his Vibe with Five YouTube show.
‘Since Tuchel has come in, they are top of almost every category: goals conceded, chances created. ‘What he’s done going in there, you can do nothing but give him applause man. It’s unbelievable.’
Werner has come in for huge criticism in his first season with Chelsea and, despite their superb run of form, he has only scored two league goals under Tuchel and is yet to score in the Champions League under the German coach.
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‘Werner will bang. Werner will bang next year,’ said the former Manchester United player. ‘It’s his first year in the country. People are forgetting he’s settling in – during a pandemic by the way. This isn’t the easiest settling-in period.
‘He’s just come in, he’s still got over 10 goals, he’s still got over 10 assists by the way. The most goal involvements at the club.’
Chelsea were expecting a bigger goal return from Werner and Kai Havertz and they are believed to have made a new striker their top transfer target, with Haaland, Lukaku and Sergio Aguero all linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.
