Fittingly for a player as pacy as Timo Werner, one of the most striking things about his loan move to Tottenham Hotspur is the speed with which it happened.
Agreed over the weekend in the early knockings of the transfer window, Spurs insiders have been commenting on how unusual it is for them to be so speedy. Typically in January, things have gone to the wire. Across 12 years, seven of their last 10 signings in the winter window have been on deadline day (or later in the case of Ryan Nelsen).
Yet here Tottenham were on the first weekend in January, agreeing a transfer that means Werner will be eligible to play in Spurs’ opening league game of 2024 (away at Manchester United on Sunday). Aside from Gedson Fernandes in 2020, the last time Spurs fielded a January signing in that same month was Lewis Holtby on January 30, 2013, having signed two days earlier. Now, if Radu Dragusin completes his move from Genoa in the coming days, they could have two at Old Trafford on the weekend.
In the case of Werner, Spurs acted quickly for a few reasons. One is that Postecoglou has demanded publicly and privately that the club don’t hang about this window. And among the Spurs’ hierarchy, there is a desire to give the head coach, who has made such a good start, what he wants.
Technical director Johan Lange was acutely aware of this need for speed and worked to get as much in place as possible heading into January. He was one of the key figures in this deal, along with Postecoglou, who has admired Werner for a long time and is confident the former Chelsea forward can do well in his system. In other recent deals, including ongoing ones such as the pursuit of Dragusin, Spurs’ former managing director of football Fabio Paratici — who now works for the club on a consultancy basis — has played a big part. But this was not one of them.
The speed was also driven in part by Spurs’ knowledge that other clubs, Manchester United among them, were interested in Werner — so there wasn’t time to waste.
Despite varying opinions about Werner from Spurs supporters, it was also a deal that internally was agreed on pretty unanimously. Postecoglou had suggested other targets, such as the winger Jota who he worked with at Celtic, but it was Werner who ticked the most boxes.
Werner scored 23 goals in 89 games for Chelsea (James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images)
The view among Postecoglou, Lange and his team is that Werner is tactically versatile and adds another option on the left and through the middle — two areas in which the squad is thin, especially with Son Heung-min away at the Asian Cup. Postecoglou has said how much he values versatile, “multifunctional” players, and Werner fits that description.
The reports on Werner’s character were also very positive, which is another important factor for Postecoglou when signing players. He believes that at the level Spurs are operating at, the talent difference between most players is negligible, with character being crucial. Werner is said to be highly motivated, conscientious, and team-focused.
In a playing sense, his compatibility with Spurs showed itself in the scouting and analysis phase through his pace and significant experience at RB Leipzig, playing in a team with a similar style. Plus he’s played in the Premier League and lived in London, which should mean no major adaptation issues and increase the chance of him hitting the ground running.
For what could be a stop-gap signing, being able to make a mark straight away was a prerequisite; there just isn’t the time to bring someone in who could take a few months to adapt and only be ready as the season is ending.
Werner-sceptics can point to the fact that he never looked entirely comfortable in the Premier League, and he has endured a poor half-season at Leipzig. Spurs are aware of this but believe that under Postecoglou’s guidance, he could rediscover his best form — and if he doesn’t, he’ll still beef up their attacking options, which have looked very light at times this season.
Without wishing to single out players, it’s worth remembering that for Spurs’ toughest game of the season, away at Manchester City, Bryan Gil started and Postecoglou’s only viable replacement for him at half-time was Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Jamie Donley, then 18, came on late in the game for his Spurs debut.
In this context, one can see why Tottenham feel they’ve signed someone who can instantly improve their squad. Acquiring players in January is not easy; there’s an element to which targets need to be out of favour for them to have been allowed to leave. That or they cost a huge amount of money, often for inflated fees because the selling club knows of the buyer’s desperation.
In the discussions around Werner, Tottenham felt confident that they, or any of their rivals, would struggle to find someone of the German’s calibre and level of experience for the kind of deal they’ve struck. It is relatively low risk in that there is an option to buy at the end of the loan (for around £15.5million) but no obligation.
Werner also has the added motivation of trying to win his place in the Germany squad back in time for Euro 2024, hosted in his home country, for a team managed by Julian Nagelsmann, the coach who got the best out of Werner at Leipzig during the 2019-20 season when the forward scored 28 Bundesliga goals. He also scored four Champions League goals that season — one of which was a penalty against Jose Mourinho’s Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the round of 16 — as Leipzig reached the semi-finals. During his career, Werner has scored 17 goals in 43 Champions League games — a similar record to Son, who has 19 in 55.
Werner scores for Chelsea at Real Madrid in April 2022 (Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
With the Spurs decision-makers in agreement that the signing made sense, it was no great challenge convincing Leipzig and Werner. The player is out of favour and has started only two Bundesliga games this season, so Leipzig were happy to let him go and no longer be burdened with his wages.
Werner is enthused by the chance to rekindle his career and has been impressed with what he’s heard from Postecoglou about his way of playing and the role he sees for the new signing.
Leipzig technical director Mario Gomez helped to explain why the deal went through so quickly when he said on Monday: “It’s a win-win for everyone.”
He added: “Germany benefits from it. We benefit from this because we get a player going. He will play regularly; that’s what Tottenham have conveyed to us.”
The idea of a “win-win” signing may leave some Tottenham supporters feeling a bit uneasy — you’d generally prefer a selling club to be gutted about losing the player that’s about to join your club.
But that’s the situation, which is why this was a relatively straightforward deal. Now it’s down to Postecoglou to show once again how adept he is at getting the best out of players who others have written off.
(Top photo: Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
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