Timo Werner has sent a warning to RB Leipzig team-mate Christopher Nkunku that he will face a different level of pressure and scrutiny when he eventually moves to Chelsea.
The Blues agreed to meet Nkunku’s buy-out clause at the end of last year and are set to welcome the Frenchman to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Neither Chelsea or RB Leipzig have announced the deal but it had been reported that the West London side have paid around £60million to secure Nkunku’s services.
Nkunku has spent four productive years at Leipzig, scoring 64 goals in 159 matches and breaking into the France squad.
The 25-year-old, who was named in Didier Deschamps’ World Cup squad but did not play in Qatar due to injury, will hope to fare better at Chelsea than Werner.
While Germany star Werner lifted the UEFA Champions League at Stamford Bridge, he drew criticism for his poor finishing before Chelsea decided to sell him back to RB Leipzig last summer.
Werner concedes he had a difficult time in west London and has told Nkunku he will face more competition and more pressure when he swaps Leipzig for Chelsea.
‘Everyone has to have their own experience,’ Werner, who scored 23 goals in 89 games for Chelsea, told Bild. ‘I had a very good first year, the second was so-so. I can tell him from positive and negative experiences, should he move.
‘At a club like that, you don’t play like you did at RB Leipzig, because there’s even more competition – not only on a sporting level, but also on another level, in the mental area.
‘You have to cope with that, and everyone has to find their own way. That’s why it’s the wrong approach to give others tips.
‘My time there has changed me a lot. It made me more mature, more reflective. And made me want to go abroad again at the end of my career.
‘I still get a lot of letters from Chelsea fans or am addressed on vacation – almost always positively. I think they liked that I was authentic.
‘I think it’s important that you can be who you are in football too. And you don’t always have to pretend.’
