21-year-old RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner has gone from strength to strength over the past year after arriving at Germany’s most controversial club from VfB Stuttgart as a highly-rated but yet unproven talent for €10 million.
According to Transfermarkt.com, his approximate value is certainly now in excess of €25m.
21 goals in 31 Bundesliga matches for Werner fired the newly promoted RB Leipzig to a runners-up finish in Germany’s top flight. Werner, who’d been a mainstay at all German youth international levels, received his senior call-up in March and is now featuring for his nation at the Confederations Cup.
Against Cameroon on Sunday, he scored his first goals for Germany by netting a brace. He’s rapid, a strong finisher, capable of creating for others, a fine dribbler, tenacious and he courts his share of controversy.
Essentially, he’s Germany’s version of a 21-year-old Wayne Rooney. Rooney’s transfer to Manchester United from Everton angered a lot of people, just like Werner’s transfer to Red Bull Leipzig.
Werner’s dive against Schalke in December courted controversy and Rooney’s no stranger to similar criticism (amongst others).
Regardless, Rooney’s remarkable appetite for goals has seen him become the all-time top scorer for both Manchester United and England. The similarities in their play are evident, and Werner is showing that selfsame hunger.