Former Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov believes that Chelsea's new signing Timo Werner is a "good start" but will not make them title contenders with the likes of Liverpool just yet.
The Blues announced on Thursday the arrival of the German forward from RB Leipzig on a five-year-contract, with the deal thought to be worth around £47.5m.
Liverpool, who had previously been heavily linked to the signing of Werner, are currently 34 points ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League and Berbatov does not believe the signing of the 24-year-old will be enough to close that gap completely next season.
"We were all expecting him to move to a new club, he was strongly connected to Liverpool but obviously he has chosen Chelsea instead," the Bulgarian told Betfair.
"He will already know a lot about the club and the Premier League, he will know what the football is like and he will certainly know when he starts playing. In this situation there are two scenarios: everything will click straight away, and he will take to it like a fish in water, he'll be scoring and assisting like he has been doing for Leipzig, or it will take a bit of time to get adjusted to the Premier League, to the speed and physicality.
"Chelsea have got their man, but I still think they have a lot to do to become a title challenging side. He is not Messi or Ronaldo. It is a good step in the right direction and they are probably going to go for other players to bolster their squad, but signing Timo Werner is a good start."
Werner has been in fine form throughout the 2019-20 campaign, netting 26 times in the Bundesliga, giving him a total of 93 goals to date over a four-year period with the German outfit.
Oliver Thomas
