German star seeks to revitalize career, fix Quakes’ scoring woes

The San Jose Earthquakes needed to replace their top offensive players. Timo Werner’s once-promising career had stalled.

So when Quakes sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena spent two days in Germany detailing his vision for the team and the role he saw for the 29-year-old German international, it was an easy sell.

“His career, the things he achieved with other teams, with the national team, and what he wanted to do with the Earthquakes was more than enough to convince me to come to the Bay Area and to achieve something together,” Werner said Friday morning.

In a move that the club described as one of the biggest in its history, Werner joined San Jose as a Designated Player after being acquired from RB Leipzig. His contract runs through June 2028.

Werner said the pitch from Arena, the league’s all-time winningest coach, went beyond tactics and formations.

“He straightaway gave me the feeling that I’m really important,” Werner said. “For him, for the club, and for the whole area, to create something and be successful again.”

The signing comes at a crucial moment for San Jose, which has not hosted a playoff match at PayPal Park since the stadium opened in 2015 and is currently reshaping its attack.

Former captain Cristian Espinoza, the club’s all-time assists leader, went to Nashville SC as a free agent, while Josef Martínez (Club Tijuana) and Chicho Arango (Atletico Nacional), who combined for 27 of the club’s 60 goals last season, have left MLS. Their production and experience must now be partially replaced by Werner.

For San Jose, the signing is both a major investment and a calculated risk.

Werner comes to MLS after a career that has spanned Europe’s top competitions, though his recent seasons have been marked by reduced roles. He spent most of his career in the Bundesliga, scoring 102 goals and adding 46 assists in 260 matches for Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart. Early in his career, he became the youngest player to reach 50 Bundesliga appearances and the youngest to score two goals in a single match.

That upward trend slowed after his €53 million move to Chelsea in 2020. Over two seasons in England, Werner scored 10 league goals and 23 in all competitions across 89 appearances. While he was part of Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League-winning squad, his individual output did not meet expectations. A return to Leipzig in 2022 resulted in limited minutes, followed by a loan to Tottenham in January 2024, where he again played mainly off the bench.

Werner said the last six months have been the most difficult part of his career.

“I never experienced something like that in my career,” Werner said. “For the last 12 years, I was always regularly playing. So it was something new. … I missed football. I missed the daily work, competing on the weekend, winning games. That’s why I knew I had to make a change.”

Arena said Werner could be used either as a striker or as a wide attacker, emphasizing that patience will be needed as he adjusts to the league.

“The responsibility is on me to utilize him properly,” Arena said. “Although he hasn’t played many minutes lately, his history shows he’s quality.”

Werner is expected to arrive in San Jose once his work permit is approved, likely near the start of the season. Arena said the club is still active in the transfer market and is targeting one or two more signings before the opening match, Feb. 21 at home against Kansas City.