Werner reveals how 'very important' Rudiger influenced his Chelsea move

Timo Werner opened up on the ‘very important’ role that Antonio Rudiger played in his summer transfer to Chelsea.

Werner had established himself as one of Europe’s most prolific frontmen at RB Leipzig, prompting a flurry of interest from top clubs. Among his suitors were Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

Despite the pair’s best efforts, however, Chelsea won the race in a €53m deal. Frank Lampard and Petr Cech made their move the very moment that Liverpool hesitated, selling Werner on their powerful interest and future plans.

The 24-year-old even recently disclosed how the many phone calls and text messages between himself and Lampard factored into his decision.

But there is one man that perhaps has gone a little under the radar in Chelsea’s capture of Werner, despite his best attempts to convince otherwise, in the German’s international teammate Rudiger.

The Blues defender revealed to have given a helping hand in convincing the striker to join him at Stamford Bridge, which Timo has now confirmed.

“It’s really important to have people who can speak your language,” he told the club’s website.

Rudiger and Timo Werner in training. #Chelsea #CFC 🔵 pic.twitter.com/WxBeJ8FJK2

— Chelsea FC Updates (@UpdateonBlues) September 18, 2020

“He helped me a lot in my first days here when sometimes I didn’t understand everything if the manager was talking too fast.

“When it was not so clear if I was coming here and I was talking to the manager and members of the club, he was important to me.

“To have a guy who was inside the team, he could tell me a little bit about the club – how are the people, the staff and the players, how is the feeling in the team, is everybody with each other?

“He told me it is very good and fun to play here, that it’s a very big club that wants to win and that can win because they have the facilities for that. In this part, he was really important.”

Werner hopes to score his first Chelsea goal in Sunday’s showdown with Premier League champions Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.