Timo Werner’s debut season at Stamford Bridge has been underwhelming at best — but the German striker is beginning to show glimpses of why Chelsea signed him last summer.

The 25-year-old got on the scoresheet in must-win matches against West Ham and Real Madrid over the past two months.

Yet his misfortune was highlighted once again when he had a pair of goals chalked off in an impressive league performance against Leicester.

As the Blues prepare for the Champions League final against Manchester City tonight, we examine whether Werner is finally set to come good after a difficult start to life in London.

Huge potential

With just 12 goals in all competitions to his name this season, it is easy to forget why Chelsea parted with £47.5million to sign Werner last June.

But after a campaign in which he had contributed an astonishing 34 goals and 12 assists for Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, the move was met with widespread acclaim at the time.

The Blues beat off strong competition from Liverpool to secure the German international’s service, hinting Werner’s issues this term may have more to do with the way he has been utilised than the player himself.

Playing up top

It is certainly the case that former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard struggled to find a consistent role for Werner.

The 2020-21 season was barely two games old when he got shunted over to the left flank. He briefly returned to play as a centre forward for a handful of games but soon found himself back in a wide role.

That positional instability continued, making an already difficult transition to the Premier League even more challenging.

It is perhaps no surprise Werner has been playing his best football in a blue shirt in recent months, when he has been almost exclusively used as an out-and-out striker by Thomas Tuchel.

A Tuchel transformation

Werner has received plenty of criticism for his profligacy in front of goal this season — but there are signs he is getting closer to converting more chances.

While he was managing just 1.03 shots on target per 90 minutes under Lampard, that figure has risen to 1.2 since Tuchel has been in charge.

Despite the increase in volume, his overall shooting accuracy has also improved, going from 39.2% to 42.11% during the German tactician’s reign.

He is now creating 1.57 chances and 0.45 big chances per 90 for his team-mates, compared with just 0.97 and 0.26 when Lampard was in the dugout.

The fan factor

Intriguingly, Tuchel has identified the lack of fans in stadiums as a potential factor in Werner’s slow start at Chelsea.

Speaking about the striker last week, he said: "I spoke about it with the board in our very first talks that I had the feeling it was a young team and looking at the characteristics from outside — not just with Timo — that the board should not forget the influence of not having the supporters helping them overcome difficult moments in matches."

Tuchel added: "He's still young and can still improve. This is what we demand every week.

"When he has some time to rest, some time on holiday for mental rest, I'm sure he can take the next steps next year. 

"He will know the environment, what he is up against, how to adapt. We try to push him now because we need that."

Bad luck?

Werner described his two disallowed goals against Leicester as a “mirror of the whole season” — and the numbers go some way towards backing up his misfortune in the final third.

His tally of six Premier League goals represents a significant underperformance when compared with his 11.9 expected goals (xG) for the season.

While that could largely be down to poor finishing, there is certainly the possibility he has not had luck on his side at times.

But with performances improving as his Chelsea career progresses, it might not be too long until Werner is hitting the net more regularly.

Blues fans will certainly be hoping he can end the season on a high against City tonight.