Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel insists Timo Werner has no cause for frustration, dismissing claims the Blues striker could head back to Germany in the summer.
Werner has struck just two goals in his last 26 Chelsea appearances, with the £53m summer signing struggling with his finishing.
Overall, the 25-year-old has scored just five times in the Premier League this season, from 9.79 expected goals (xG).
His underperformance is a stark shift from last season, with RB Leipzig, when the Germany international scored 28 Bundesliga goals from 20.80xG.
What is expected goals (xG)?
- Expected goals (xG) is a metric that measures the quality of any given scoring opportunity
- Expected goals for (xGF) is the xG created by a team
- Expected goals against (xGA) is xG conceded by a team
But Tuchel has told him to stop worrying and “focus on the process” of rediscovering his scoring touch.
When quizzed on whether there is any truth in rumours that Werner is unhappy in west London, Tuchel replied: “Stop reading! Read a book!
“There is no book on Timo, so read a book! For Timo, I think he has no reason now to be frustrated because he played an amazing match against Liverpool, maybe his best match since I arrived.
“Then he had a good match against Everton with a lot of chances to score, which he normally is clinical enough and strong enough.
“He did not score, okay, in a situation like this, this can affect his self-confidence of course, but what does it help?
“The clear advice from us is don’t focus on the result, focus on the process, get your decision-making right, get your technique right, take good decisions and the ball and the opponent’s goalkeeper will do the rest.
“And then it’s either in or it’s an amazing save. He can improve from there, but there is simply no time to reflect on what is going to happen in the summer and next year. There’s no time.
“In the moment I don’t see why he should be frustrated. We gave him a little time to breathe against Leeds.
“And honestly, nobody here is blaming the strikers. This is a team effort to attack and defend, but we expect our guys to create more chances, to be more decisive because we expect the defenders to play on the highest level and so we also expect that of our strikers.
“And then maybe all the stuff you read will disappear.”