FAST TRACK TO THE TOP
Dateline: Autumn 2009. A curly haired, 13-year-old striker by the name of Timo Werner, then on the books of VfB Stuttgart, nervously reels off his particulars in a video presentation, hopping from one foot to the other as he recites his “Me, Myself, I”.
As media platforms go, this was strictly home-movie fare. But what a difference a decade makes, with Werner only featuring in blockbusters these days, conspicuously top of the bill in the role of goal-hungry RB Leipzig striker, established Germany international and one of the hottest properties playing in Europe today.
That Liverpool, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Internazionale rate him so highly makes perfect sense. Thanks to an advantageous contractual release clause, he would “only” cost €60million and is a man of many parts: one of the speediest players in the world, able to play through the middle or out wide on the left, boasting an extraordinary aptitude for converting chances – 27 goals in all competitions for RB this season – and increasingly adept in the assist department.
You can trust “TurboTimo” in more or less all red-zone circumstances. Having only turned 24 in March, he is the gunslinger who is quicker on the draw than his shadow. Nor is he merely a sprinter cum finisher. He is technically strong, robust and has plenty of game awareness to boot.
Werner has a long history of dealing with headhunters. During his rookie season as a Stuttgart first-teamer – he was just 17 years and four months old when making his debut for the club in a Europa League tie against Botev Plovdiv in August
