Timo Werner will certainly not be the European handball champion in his life.

But at least the ball did not slip out of the hands of the newly crowned Champions League winner (in football, of course) when the German EM kickers had to briefly change the sport during training on Saturday: catching and throwing several balls, communication, reacting quickly were on the schedule.

The fact that Werner still stood out in the Adi Dassler Stadium was more due to his pink football boots. “They weren't designed by me,” said the Chelsea FC striker with a smile at the eye-catching shoes. “There are worse ones. They look good that you can wear them as a man for two or three months. ”Nowadays, the football kickers of the outfitters would change quickly anyway.

One year after his move from the Bundesliga from RB Leipzig to England to Chelsea, Werner is relaxed, self-critical and combative at the same time.

The offensive player believes that his first season in London brought him forward.

The conclusion is "good, in the end we won the Champions League, the biggest competition".

He was able to learn a lot in the Premier League: "It wasn't all bad, I developed in a lot of things," said Werner, although it was a year "with many ups and downs".

"Of course you have to be self-critical"

Especially in his main task, scoring goals, the striker weakened. Werner scored twelve goals in 52 games this season with Chelsea. A season earlier with RB Leipzig there were 34 hits in 45 games. “Of course you have to be self-critical. It should have been one or two more goals, ”said Werner. But he has already found a reason for it: “If you think too much as a striker, you block your instincts. That was a bit of a problem for me this season. "

Werner also had a long sluggish goal with the national team.

He had gone four games in a row before he scored his 16th goal in the 39th international match in a 7-1 win against Latvia.

“At the moment, it's my turn.

That's not so bad either, ”said Werner in Herzogenaurach.

He wants to aggressively take on his new role as DFB joker at the start of the EM.

In the first group game on Tuesday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ZDF and MagentaTV) in Munich against world champion France, Werner's Chelsea colleague Kai Havertz and the two Bayern professionals Serge Gnabry and Thomas Müller are expected to attack.

"We have a brutal oversupply of players in the offensive area," said Werner about the competitive situation.

But there is no negative mood at Werner.

“I'm not a player who sits in the stands with crossed arms and pouts,” he said, adding, “I hope I get my bets.

I don't care whether I try to score goals from the bench or from the start.

But this is a team tournament. "

The native of Stuttgart also made it clear that it is an unfamiliar role for him.

“I haven't been able to prove myself in the joker role so often.

I played more often from the start. ”And he knew that he should develop even further as a striker,“ that when you come off the bench you are more dangerous for goals ”.

Werner wants to convince national coach Joachim Löw of his qualities again. He can also bring in a lot of flexibility. Most recently in England it worked better with the goal preparations, he said. He feels ready for anything: “This is not a request concert. We are relatively variable, so you can play in any position. "