Ralph Hasenhuttl has revealed the reason Timo Werner is not scoring goals as he should, saying Chelsea are using him wrong in the wrong position.

The Southampton boss, who worked with the prolific goalscorer at RB Leipzig, believes he is at his best when used as a central frontman.

According to Hasenhuttl, Werner remains “one of the best strikers in Europe” and his struggles at Chelsea can be explained by the Blues often using him in the wrong position.

Hasenhuttl said: “I know Timo very well and I have seen him in situations where he was not good.

“Most of the time when I have seen this is because of the reason that the game doesn’t fit to him. The team didn’t play in a way where he can bring his best on the pitch, I think.

“He is definitely a player where you have to adapt your game to him. If you do this, he will give you everything you need from a striker.

“But, therefore, he has some qualities you really have to focus on.

“The good thing for him, I think at Leipzig when I was there, is we concentrated completely on his qualities. Our quick transitions after winning the ball, it was perfect for our game.

“Also, when he was with Julian [Nagelsmann], he was also scoring a lot of goals.

“You really need to bring him into his best position so he can bring his strength on the pitch. For me, he is one of the best strikers in Europe.”

Chelsea are preparing to break their transfer record in the summer in a bid to sign Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland, according to the Athletic.

The west London club spent big at the start of the season, bringing in Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz and Edouard Mendy for a total of more than £200m.

After being subject to a transfer ban in his first season in charge, manager Frank Lampard was able to splash the cash, but the Blues have not had a great start to the campaign and currently sit in seventh.

The club are having problems in their attack with Timo Werner, Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud not living to expectation.

According to the report, Haaland has a release clause in his contract which would allow him to leave if a club tables an offer of €70m (£66.6m) but it will not become active until 2022.

However, Chelsea are willing to pay a premium this summer, believing that other clubs who are interested in Haaland have been hit hard by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and are waiting until 2022 to try and sign him for the cheaper price.

AC Milan director Paolo Maldini has confirmed he expects Chelsea’s Fikayo Tomori to sign on loan.

Maldini has told Italian TV: “He’s perfect for our squad, we’re working on the last details.”

The Daily Mail revealed earlier this week that Italian side Milan had been stepping up talks to sign Tomori on a six-month loan deal with an option to buy for £27million.

“We wanted Fikayo Tomori also last summer,” Maldini told Sky Sports Italia.

“He’s always been one of our targets. He’s perfect for our squad – we’re working on the last details.”

A loan deal could be beneficial for the Chelsea defender, who has down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge this season.

But the Blues manager said: “He absolutely has a long-term future at this club and we will see if and when he goes out on loan.

“The moment I got close with Fikayo is when I took him on loan to Derby and he was the player of the year and one of the best players in the Championship that year.

“He came back last year, played 20 plus games for us at a young age and then got in the England squad.”

Mason Mount has revealed the identities of Chelsea’s biggest pranksters, while also naming the main colleague that he looks up to as a role model.

Mount says fellow countryman Ben Chilwell, who joined him in west London from Leicester City in August, has also quickly integrated himself at Chelsea due to his mischievous nature.

The 22-year-old also says Jorginho has a penchant for winding his team-mates up behind the scenes, with the Italian’s painful go-to practical joke centring around heated studs.

Asked if Chilwell is the biggest joker in the Blues squad, Mount told the UMM Youtube channel, via Goal, that: “Yes, he is up there. He recently joined. Jorginho definitely, he is always playing pranks.

“We warm our boots up in like a microwave, like a boot microwave. And because he wears studs, obviously they are metal, so they get so hot.

“So he will always just walk around with them in his hand and just tap it on your skin. He will get you in the back of the leg or something.”

Mount also praised 34-year-old striker Olivier Giroud for his influence at Chelsea, admitting the Frenchman has been a source of inspiration at the beginning of his own career.

“Obviously he has played at the top of the game for a long time and all of us younger boys have learnt a lot off him – speaking to a World Cup winner,” he said.

Asked if Giroud has ever brought his World Cup winners’ medal to the training ground, Mount responded: “I think when he won it.

“I wasn’t there at the time but I think he brought it into training when he got back.

“But his phone case has like world champions, and a little France flag and everything. He has a phone case like that, so I see it all the time.”