Thomas Tuchel's clear Dortmund message plots Chelsea transfer path to Erling Haaland saviour

Maybe it rubber-stamped how low Timo Werner's confidence had got at Kenilworth Road that after he slotted home Chelsea's desperately needed equaliser, he turned and ran back to the halfway line.

Little sign of a smile or easing of pressure, you would have almost assumed he'd put his effort wide. This was Werner's first Chelsea goal since the tap-in against Chesterfield in the third round of the FA Cup. Before that, you had to go back to November 23rd against Juventus, a similarly simple tap-in.

Probably the best part of the finish against Luton on Wednesday was the feeling of precise execution. The run, the expert pass from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and well-placed finish.

The equaliser and winner, for which Werner set up for Romelu Lukaku, looked efficient and straightforward, two adjectives you could not prescribe to the German this season.

Even simple things have appeared tricky for Timo. The narrative surrounding his first year in Blue apportioned a lot of blame onto bad luck and fine margins, given the number of offside calls against him.

The second year has unravelled that narrative. Bad luck feels a less logical excuse and more fundamental questions over his skillset must be asked.

Bought for nearly £50m in June 2020 from RB Leipzig, only seven Premier League goals from 46 appearances reflect the steep underperformance from one of Europe's hottest strikers in 2019.

According to Goal, Werner's representatives will meet with Chelsea officials in the coming weeks to better understand Tuchel's plans for their client before deciding on their next move.

The report states that if talks don't go well, a move to Borussia Dortmund could happen, with the Bundesliga club keen to bring Werner back to Germany.

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