Chelsea forward Timo Werner was full of praise for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final.
Werner joined Chelsea back in 2020 after successful seasons with RB Leipzig in Bundesliga.
Despite a number of promising displays, the 26-year-old’s spell at Stamford Bridge has not met expectations, to say the least.
Chelsea’s patient, possession-based football under both Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel might have hindered Werner, who relies heavily on his pace.
The Germany international admitted that Chelsea were not the only Premier League option he had, although he still insisted that he did not regret his decision.
“When I was in Leipzig, I had the possibility to come to the Premier League”, Werner told the Evening Standard.
“Liverpool were also in my thoughts and were a big possibility for me.
“In the end, I decided for Chelsea and I won the Champions League title last year.
“It was not the worst decision.”
While he is now a Chelsea player, Werner could not hide his admiration for Klopp.
“He is one of the best coaches we had in Germany,” he added when speaking about the Liverpool manager.
“Not to attack our manager, but over the past years, he won the most titles.
“He has a very nice personality — a personality that the German people love, because he seems like fun.
“The Germans love the types like Thomas Muller, Jurgen Klopp — they have empathy. They say what they think, and that is really important in this business, to not fake something.”
Werner further argued that Klopp is one of the top three managers at the moment, alongside Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel.
“He [Tuchel] is on a level now where, when you say who are the best managers, you have only now Klopp, him and [Pep] Guardiola maybe.”
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