Former international footballer Mario Gomez sees parallels between Timo Werner's career and his own. In the podcast "Spielmacher - der EM-Talk mit Sebastian Hellmann und 360Media", the 38-year-old defends the currently struggling center forward, who has been loaned to Tottenham Hotspur by RB Leipzig, and holds others to account. "He's an incredibly great striker and he has the ability to score goals like few others in Germany. And it's our job to get him going again so that we can all benefit from it," said Gomez.
A move to Spurs a "crazy step"
The 78-time international is also professionally connected to Werner. Gomez has been working for Red Bull since January 2022, where he is responsible for international soccer as Technical Director, including at Bundesliga club RB Leipzig. After Werner was unable to assert himself there in recent weeks, he recently returned to the Premier League on loan. Gomez spoke of a "sensational move to the best league in the world".
Werner, who like Gomez once played for VfB Stuttgart, had already tried his luck on the island, but returned to Leipzig from Chelsea FC in the summer of 2022 after two years. The fact that Spurs and their coach Angelos Postecoglou wanted Werner at all costs is something "that touches me very, very much and makes me happy for him, regardless of all the professional connections we have, because he hasn't had such an easy path in the end. People have to understand that too," said Gomez.
A jet plane to the top
He drew a comparison to his own professional career with its ups and downs. "There also have to be those that you trample on. That's also part of soccer. There have to be those losers too," said Gomez and explained: "It's not because you're you, but because you've made sure you're a laughing stock at that moment."
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