From Leroy Sane to Timo Werner – Have ‘Big Money’ German Transfers Proved their Worth in the Premier League?

There’s a rich history of German players making big money moves to Premier League sides. Chelsea recently signed two of them when they signed Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen and Timo Werner from RB Leipzig.

However, they were following in the shoes of Leroy Sane and Mesut Ozil, who had very interesting careers at their respective clubs. Here are four German players who moved to English clubs with some varying results:

Mesut Ozil | Real Madrid to Arsenal, 2013/14 | €47m

The biggest enigma out of everyone on this list, Mesut Ozil, has seen it all at Arsenal. His transfer from Real Madrid was one of the biggest coups from Arsenal, who had just signed a man who was at the peak of his game.

Ozil immediately improved the Arsenal side. He got 15 goals and assists in his first season and only improved from there.

His best season came in 2015/16 when Ozil got 19 assists and 6 goals in 35 games. However, that was the peak, as he fell off drastically.

He finally moved to Fenerbahce in 2021 and has struggled to make an impact there as well. Arsenal fans will always talk about ‘Prime Ozil’ and he does have a legacy in the league.

Leroy Sane | Schalke to Man City, 2016/17 | €52m

The tricky winger was a success at Manchester City and left the Premier League after scoring 25 goals in 91 appearances. He also got 31 assists in the league, while competing with wingers like Bernardo Silva for playing time.

The right-winger also broke into the German national team while at City and was one of Pep Guardiola’s favorite players. In the end, he moved to German club Bayern Munich and managed to have more than 20 goal contributions in 44 games.

Timo Werner | RB Leipzig to Chelsea, 2020/21 | €53m

However, Chelsea striker Werner hasn’t enjoyed the same success at Chelsea as he has undoubtedly regressed from his Bundesliga days.

The striker lost his confidence as he missed several big chances in the league and in Europe. His return of 6 goals and 10 assists in 35 games is very far from the numbers he used to put up in the Bundesliga.

The German forward scored 28 goals in 34 Bundesliga games in the 2019/20 along with 8 assists. He has shown his brilliance in patches, but Chelsea fans have largely been frustrated with the forward.

Kai Havertz | Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea, 2020/21 | €80m

Signed alongside Werner, Havertz had a frustrating start to the season as well. However, he has enjoyed a far better time in the club than his countryman.

He didn’t have many goals or assists at the end of the season, but Havertz scored the most important goal of Chelsea’s season.

He scored the only goal in the UEFA Champions League final as Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 to win their second UCL trophy. Havertz is still a very young player at 22, and he’ll grow up to be an amazing star at the London club.

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