Simon Jordan has never been one to hold back on his criticism. Even still, his assessment of Tottenham Hotspur forward Timo Werner – ‘a speedboat without a brain’ – feels particularly harsh, even by the former Crystal Palace chairman’s pull-no-punches standards.
Tottenham confirmed their first deal of the summer window on Tuesday.
Timo Werner, after spending the last few months of last season back in the Premier League on loan from RB Leipzig, will now be sticking around until the summer of 2025. Spurs can sign the jet-heeled Germany international at the end of his second loan spell, meanwhile, for just £8.5 million, almost half the fee they would have had to pay in this window.
But, after scoring only twice in 13 league games from January to June, Werner’s arrival feels a little underwhelming as far as Jordan is concerned.
His rather cruel metaphor – comparing the former Chelsea forward to a runaway motorboat without a sense of direction – feels a little uncalled for, but it’s true that the concerns many harboured in West London with regards to his end product are now being shared by their northern-based neighbours.
Tottenham Hotspur extend Timo Werner loan
“My first reaction is he’s an honest player. He will give you his best. But he is a speedboat without a brain,” Jordan tells talkSPORT (29 May, 11am).
“He came (to England in 2020) with a reputation of being a goalscorer. But we saw what he was like at Chelsea. I didn’t see any material improvements at Tottenham.”
Werner joins a collection of Tottenham forwards who, while blessed with pace and endeavour, are yet to prove that they can really be relied upon to produce consistently for a club with Champions League ambitions.
Jordan puts Brennan Johnson into that category, even if five goals and 10 assists represents a pretty respectable return for a 23-year-old who was playing Championship football at Nottingham Forest not so long ago.
Simon Jordan shares Brennan Johnson adds
“Brennan Johnson is a work in progress,” Jordan adds of the £47 million Welshman. “There are parts about Brennan Johnson that worry me, that he’s never going to be the full package.
“There is a composure that the top players have, to be able to stop themselves in a moment in get it out of their feet. He doesn’t seem to have that. Everything seems to be in a hurry.
“We’ll see if (he) can develop.”
Ange Postecoglou’s penchant for turning promising young players into potentially great ones does, at least, bode well for a Spurs side who will be hoping to see Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario, Pape Sarr, Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie reach another level in 2024/25 alongside Swedish wonderkid Lucas Bergvall.
Still, Jordan needs some convincing about Tottenham’s elite-level ambitions.
“They’ve got Brennan Johnson on one side, they’ve got Timo Werner on the other and neither one of them tell me that Tottenham are going to progress where Postecoglou tells us he wants to go,” Jordan argues.
“If Timo Werner is anything more than a squad player, I don’t know what message that sends out to Postecoglou or the fans.”
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