Timo Werner ‘exactly the same’ as Michael Owen says Tony Cascarino, who claims Chelsea striker needs his Emile Heskey who brought best out of Liverpool icon

Timo Werner has been compared to Michael Owen, with Chelsea needing to find their Emile Heskey to get the best out of their underperforming summer signing.

Werner, the Germany forward, joined the Blues for around £48million as Frank Lampard invested heavily in his squad ahead of this season.

However, he has not yet lived up to his price tag, with only eight goals scored in all competitions and he’s currently without a goal in any of his past 11 appearances.

Werner was even dropped to the bench for Monday’s visit of Aston Villa, but Lampard introduced him as a substitute with 18 minutes remaining as the Blues chased a winner – which they failed to score as the match ended 1-1.

The 24-year-old has spent much of the season playing on the left side of a front three, with Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud selected in the centre as they are better at holding up the ball and bringing their teammates into play.

Werner has never been known for such abilities, and he starred for RB Leipzig playing the same role he is being utilised in by Lampard – on the left of the attack.

However, at Leipzig Werner was paired alongside Yussuf Poulsen, who is a far more physical player than either Giroud or Abraham and whose entire job was to create space for his strike partner.

Poulsen, according to former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino, performed a role similar to how Emile Heskey brought the best out of Michael Owen during they heyday at Liverpool.

And Werner, who Casc compared to Owen, needs to find his new Heskey at Stamford Bridge.

Asked about Werner’s struggles, Casc told the talkSPORT Breakfast: “It’s a tricky one, because I’ve seen a lot of Werner and when he was at Leipzig he played alongside Poulsen who is a big centre-forward, and he played off the left of him and thrived.

“It’s a bit like Michael Owen; Michael Owen without Emile Heskey was never going to be the same player.

“Michael was blisteringly quick but had not the greatest of touches, but he always fired goals when he had a big lad beside him to take the pressure off him.

“Werner is exactly the same to me; he is blisteringly quick, his touch is not exceptional, he’s technically not bad but not great… he can’t play centre-forward on his own.

“He just can’t, because he can’t lead a line or bring players into play. He has to play off the left side of someone.

“The surprising thing for me on the substitution was when Giroud came off [against Villa], you have to put Tammy Abraham on if you are going to put Werner on, because he has to play off the left side.

“The problem Frank has is that [Christian] Pulisic was probably Chelsea’s most dangerous forward and he looked very lively and always wanted to get on the left. Pulisic is a better left-sided player than Werner in the way Chelsea play.

“It’s one of Frank’s biggest challenges he has got over the next few games.”