Former Chelsea striker Timo Werner is going to miss the World Cup in Qatar after picking up an ankle injury while on club duty, RB Leipzig have confirmed.
The German striker picked up the injury in RB Leipzig’s 4-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk, having to be substituted after just 19 minutes, and though all parties were initially hopeful, the German outfit have since confirmed that he suffered a torn ligament and will therefore be out until the New Year.
ℹ️ Timo Werner suffered an ankle injury last night in the win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Scans today in Leipzig showed that he has unfortunately torn the syndesmosis ligament in his left ankle and will therefore be out for the rest of 2022. pic.twitter.com/tLLAfxb2op
— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) November 3, 2022
Werner had found form against since his return to Leipzig from Chelsea, with the forward having registered 13 goal involvements in 16 games, while he has been his country’s most productive player under Hansi Flick, grabbing 8 goals and having had the most shots of anyone in De Mannschaft’s squad.
Flick was also left dismayed by the diagnosis, with Werner having been a top performer under him since he took over from Joachim Low. “This news is very sad”. he began. I feel very sorry for Timo personally because he really wanted to play the World Cup. But Timo’s absence is a huge loss especially for the team. We all wish him a speedy recovery”
The 2022 edition of the tournament begins in under three weeks, meaning that any injury now, however innocuous, is likely to leave players sweating over their fitness ahead of the international showpiece.
Ben Chilwell is already likely to miss out after picking up a hamstring injury in Chelsea’ 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb, while all of Kyle Walker, Reece James and Kalvin Phillips face a race against time to prove their fitness ahead of the showpiece.
