LONDON: One of the major attractions of Tottenham for Timo Werner is the opportunity to prove that his failure at Chelsea was down to the club and not to him.

Werner has returned to the Premier League on loan aware that Spurs can buy him outright in the summer for £15m if he passes the test. Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou is also aware that Werner is not the dreadnought centre-forward which Chelsea mistakenly thought they were buying in 2020.

Chelsea paid £54m for Werner but were disappointed with his return of 23 goals in 89 appearances. Werner’s tally under Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel would have been greater but over-eagerness cost him 20 goals disallowed for offside. He was flagged offside on 42 occasions, more than any other Premier player over those two seasons.

Tottenham needed to bring in a new forward in this transfer window to cover for the absence of captain and 12-goal top scorer Heung-min Son at the AFC Asian Cup. Postecoglou has also discovered in his first half-season in north London that Wales forward Brennan Johnson is still raw around the penalty box and that Richarlison is frustratingly erratic.

Werner’s ability to play both as a central striker and a left-winger will be valuable because these are the two positions which need covering during Son’s absence. He should certainly enjoy playing in front of Italy leftback Destiny Udogie who has proved one of the Premier League’s most exciting newcomers.

He said: “I had a really, really good talk with the manager. He gave me straight away the feeling of what I need to join a club, what I want to feel when you talk to a manager. Also the tactics and the style, how he wants to play, how he lets the team play, for me I thought straight away that it fits perfectly.

“The new stadium is something special. Straight away I loved it. It was always a big game to play against Spurs and it should be even more special to score for the home team and have the whole crowd behind you.

“I can play every position so we can all change during a game and that makes it even harder for the other team to defend because they never know who is coming and what they’re position is now.”

Postecoglou employs a high line with his attackers playing on the shoulders of opposing defenders. If Werner can use his speed on the counter-attack to create more chances for himself and his team-mates then he will justify a permanent transfer.

Tottenham’s second signing of the transfer window is £26m Genoa defender Radu Dragusin who preferred a move to north London rather than to FC Bayern.

Werner certainly is likely to make his Spurs debut at Old Trafford on Sunday against Manchester United, who had also been interested in him. Another debut will be made by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United’s new co-owner. It would be the first match he has attended since his offer to buy 25 per cent of the club was accepted last month.

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