Andy Townsend has claimed that Timo Werner is not good enough to regularly start games for Tottenham Hotspur if the club have ambitions of competing with the best sides in the Premier League.
Werner has had a huge impact since arriving on loan at Tottenham in January, having registered five goal contributions in just eight Premier League starts for the Lilywhites (Transfermarkt).
The pacy forward appears to be getting better with each game as he gains a better understanding of the Spurs system and gets used to playing with his teammates.
He produced what was arguably his best display in a Tottenham shirt in the 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday, being a real livewire on the left for the home side.
On the back of his latest showing, Football.London’s Alasdair Gold predicted that the Lilywhites hierarchy may now give the green light to activate the £15m option to buy the German permanently this summer.
Is Timo Werner good enough for Tottenham?
However, Townsend has said that the on-loan Leipzig man will not be a regular starter for Ange Postecoglou’s men, given their big objectives over the next year or two.
The pundit told talkSPORT (7:43 am, April 9, 2024) about Werner: “I mean, listen, I don’t think he is anywhere near their best team, him. He is a sub, isn’t he? He is 10 minutes – Timo Werner.
“I thought he was an astonishing signing when he arrived, if I am being honest. And I can understand there are certain players you think, ‘Well, he has played Premier League football before, he knows what it is all about, he knows the demands of it’.
“But I would never see Timo Werner going in as a regular starter for Spurs if they want to go where Ange wants to take them.”
Spurs Web Opinion
While I can understand where Townsend is coming from, on the evidence of what we have seen from Werner in a Spurs shirt so far, he is good enough to be a regular starter. Even if he is just used as a squad player next season, it should be a no-brainer for Tottenham to activate the £15m option to buy.