Glen Johnson says any decision make on allowing Timo Werner to potentially leave could come back to bite them.
The German forward has netted just three Premier League goals this season, including twice in the recent 6-0 win over Southampton.
Both Werner and have struggled for regular starts with preferring of late leading to suggestions the former could move on in the summer.
However, former Blues defender Johnson feels it’s a risk to move him on despite not hitting the heights expected of him just yet.
‘It’s a tough one. I like Timo Werner. I like him as a player,’ he told .
‘I think he has been given a fair crack at it to be honest. But also I don’t feel as if it’s been as bad as people say.
‘Obviously you want a goalscorer but he does have a lot of assists. He is heavily involved. But yes, he hasn’t got the goals that people were expecting.
‘People like him, he could easily go to another league and score 25 goals a season, but maybe he just can’t do it in the Premier League. It’s a tough one.
‘The situation could embarrass them, but maybe not, because he hasn’t done it here.’
Werner’s brace against Southampton at the weekend has led to suggestions he could be handed a start in tonight’s Champions League quarter-final clash with Real Madrid.
The 26-year-old was an unused substitute in the first leg which saw Real win 3-1 at Stamford Bridge but former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton feels he could be ‘unleashed’ tonight.
‘With Romelu Lukaku not even in the squad, it is time for Chelsea to unleash the forgotten man Timo Werner,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘His pace and movement can combine well with the guile of Kai Havertz to cause Real Madrid plenty of issues.
‘If Tuchel’s defeatist attitude is genuine and he does indeed think they’ve got nothing to lose, isn’t it worth throwing Werner into the mix? Why not?
‘Chelsea need goals, and though Werner hasn’t set the world alight since signing, he’s guaranteed to work his socks off.
‘Lukaku hasn’t travelled to Madrid so Werner and Havertz playing off one another could represent their best bet of striking early in this European encounter.
‘Of course Real won’t be as naïve as Southampton were at St Mary’s. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side played with a high line and Tuchel’s Chelsea gobbled that up.’
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