Chelsea have struck a deal to sign Timo Werner, the prolific RB Leipzig striker, on a five-year contract.
The 24-year-old has agreed personal terms and, subject to passing a medical, he will join the Blues in July once the German league season is over.
Frank Lampard has been keen to add a prolific attacker to his team, and the 32 goals Werner has scored in all competitions so far this season suggests the Chelsea boss has got his man.
But what can Lampard learn from how Werner has been used by Leipzig to ensure he is making the most of Chelsea’s £47.5m investment?
Werner is not the orthodox number nine his goals suggest he is. As modern football has evolved and players have had to develop their game, moving away from being specialists and rounding out their skills set, Werner represents the new age of centre-forward play.
It should first be noted, however well he fits into the more rounded modern game, that he has been prolific throughout his career, scoring 21, 13, 16 and 27 goals in his last four Bundesliga seasons. Only in one of those seasons did his goals per 90 minutes drop below 0.5.
This season, the best of his career, he has scored 0.94 goals per 90 minutes. His expected goals per 90 minutes is 0.74, which is a very strong figure, illustrating the dangerous positions that he gets into time and time again.
These are encouraging numbers from a goalscoring perspective, of course, but they only paint part of the picture. Werner is much more than the age-old fox in the box.
Providing at least seven assists in each of the last three seasons shows he is a creative player too, especially when he drifts out to the left half-space between the centre-back and full-back, receiving the ball before crossing into the penalty area or sliding a through ball in behind the opposition.
He is also a capable dribbler and likes to get involved in play more than just as a pure goalscorer. This season, he averages 47.3 touches per 90. He has also completed just short of 60% of his dribble attempts, good for north of two per 90.
Furthermore, Werner carries the ball 35.5 times per 90 minutes, producing a total progressive distance - the distance he takes the ball closer to the opposition goal - of 153.3 yards.
These are not the statistics of a pure goal poacher. Werner is more than that.
Julian Nagelsmann, the Leipzig manager, has predominantly used Werner in a front two or front three as a part of 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formations.
In the 3-5-2, he tends to partner Yussuf Poulsen, who is a self-described battering ram to command defensive attention and create space for Werner and others, or Patrik Schick, another larger centre-forward who is excellent with his back to goal and the ball at his feet.
In a 3-4-3, Werner tends to play off the left side or as centre-forward. In either role, he has the freedom to roam, to drop deep, to drift wide, to pick up spaces that make him difficult to mark.
“He's finding space in between lines and is harder to predict,” said Nagelsmann.
As for Werner himself, he says: “I'm playing in a slightly different position as a kind of number.10. That helps me a lot. I've got a lot of freedom. You often have to wait a long time for your chance and stay patient. But I've developed in that regard.”
Under Nageslsmann, a renowned tactician who will shift his team around from game to game as he looks to exploit weaknesses in the opposition, Werner has played on either wing, as a centre-forward, or as a number 10.
“I've become more versatile under Julian Nagelsmann,” Werner added. “I have already played in a number of positions. I haven't just played out on the left or right, but also as a number10 or lone striker.”
While his scoring numbers suggest he is a goal-poaching centre-forward who comes alive in the penalty area, in reality Werner provides far more.
He is at his best when he is not limited to playing on the shoulder of the opposition and free to look to find space in the final third.
The question now turns to Lampard. Can he give Werner the tactical flexibility and freedom that he has relished at Leipzig?
Chelsea are certainly a more regimented team than the Germans, but Lampard has shown a surprising willingness to rotate between different systems, use players in different roles, and is working towards deploying a more open and expansive style, one that would suit Werner perfectly.
A front three comprising Christian Pulisic, another summer signing in Hakim Ziyech and Werner sounds tantalising, with each having experience of moving across the front line. They are quick, technically skilled, intelligent and interchangeable.
Such a forward line does not have the larger centre-forward to hold off defenders and link up play, although Olivier Giroud is perfect for this role, but this trio could form a vibrant, fluid and dynamic Chelsea attack.
On the face of it, then, Lampard might just be able to offer Werner the best role to unleash the German. As we have seen at Leipzig, that freedom is essential. And when Werner is afforded it, he delivers.
