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Tottenham Hotspur flop Timo Werner has admitted that the abuse he received in both England and Germany didn’t go unnoticed.
The German is currently playing for San Jose Earthquakes in MLS after bringing his time in Europe to an end back in January.
He enjoyed a career between Germany and England, starting in the youth ranks at Stuttgart and progressing through the ranks there before a move to Leipzig in 2016.
His performances there saw him shoot to prominence. He scored 95 goals in 159 games for the club and earned a reputation as one of Europe’s sharpest forwards.
The Premier League certainly didn’t overlook him. After being heavily linked with a move to Liverpool for years, Chelsea finally bought him in 2020 for €53m.
But his move to London was not a success. He quickly became a flop at Stamford Bridge, with 23 goals and 21 assists in 89 games seen as unsuccessful return on the investment.
He returned to Leipzig in 2022 but failed to revive the old magic and ended up at Tottenham on loan from January 2024 to 2025. But he would manage just three goals and seven assists in 41 games for Tottenham in that period.
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His disappointing performances in England often saw him become the focus for mockery and abuse from the stands. It was also the case in Germany, where he was a frequent target for opposing fans.
That started in 2016 with a dive against Schalke in December that year putting him very much in the spotlight. That abuse continued, even when he had left for Tottenham and Chelsea. And Werner now admits that had an effect on him.
“I’ve been through a lot of shit in my career,” he said on The Late Run Podcast.
“Even in Germany, I had to endure a lot of rubbish. There were moments when I’d sit at home, feeling completely crushed.
“I kept asking myself: ‘What the hell?’ No matter which stadium I went to, I was booed everywhere. They sang songs about me, constantly making things up, it was really tough.
“There wasn’t a single city I visited where I could just be out and about without being bothered. It followed me for years.
“I went through a lot in Germany because I once dived. After that, they were after me for years. It was similar at Chelsea; I missed a few chances, and then they set their sights on me.”
| TIMO WERNER Senior club career · All competitions |
|
| Club | Years | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| VfB Stuttgart | 2013–2016 | 103 | 14 |
| RB Leipzig | 2016–2020; 2022–2026 | 216 | 113 |
| Chelsea | 2020–2022 | 89 | 23 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2024–2025 · Loan | 41 | 3 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 2026–present | 22 | 6 |
| CAREER TOTAL | 471 | 159 | |
2026 · SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
| Appearances | 22 |
| Minutes played | 1,380 |
| Goals | 6 |
| Assists | 7 |
| Goal contributions | 13 |
| Minutes per goal | 230.0 |
| Minutes per goal contribution | 106.2 |
MLS and US Open Cup combined. Goal contributions = goals + assists. Assists follow Opta definitions.
Senior competitive first-team matches only. Excludes youth, reserve and international appearances. RB Leipzig figures combine both permanent spells, excluding his Tottenham loan. Minutes-based figures use Opta Analyst data and are rounded to one decimal place.
Updated: 6 November 2026.
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