Lampard is playing Werner out of position, says Hasselbaink

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink acknowledged Timo Werner as the ‘real deal’, but claims Frank Lampard isn’t playing him in the right position at Chelsea.

Werner signed up for Chelsea in a €53m summer transfer from RB Leipzig and had been expected to become their key man in central attack. That’s not always been the case, though.

While Lampard started the German as a center-forward for Chelsea’s first two games of the season, he has shifted him to the left flank in three of the club’s last four fixtures in all competitions normally in favor of Tammy Abraham.

In the Blues’ last match at home to Southampton, however, Werner started centrally and scored twice. He also claimed an assist for Kai Havertz’s goal as the two sides settled for a 3-3 draw.

“He [Werner] is the real deal,” Hasselbaink said on Sky Sports.

“He is very sharp, he turns the center-back quickly, and there is only one thing in his mind. He is not somebody who likes to play with back to goal, he likes to see it and make the run on the shoulder of the center-backs.

“I like him when he plays through the middle, he does drift to the left, and then comes back to the middle, he is a top striker.

“His runs are limited if he plays on the left as he can only cut back in, he is more restricted and he likes to be free and make runs off the shoulder.

“I didn’t like to play with my back to goal, I couldn’t do it. For me what I have seen of him, he is the real deal, he doesn’t care how they go in.”

Chelsea will hope Werner has his scoring boots on again for Tuesday night’s Champions League opener against Sevilla in London.