There will be plenty going on inside Thomas Tuchel's head right now. The deadline for interested parties to submit their bid for Chelsea Football Club is set to pass with the Blues facing a huge FA Cup semi-final less than 72 hours away.
Tuchel has reiterated time after time that he has nothing to do with the process of finding a new owner of the club, but the German coach will definitely have more than an eye on what is going on behind the scenes. His main focus, though, will be on Sunday afternoon's FA Cup last four clash with Crystal Palace.
The two London clubs go head-to-head at Wembley in what is now Chelsea's biggest match of the season. The FA Cup is the Blues' only chance of adding more silverware to their growing collection this term and despite being big favourites against the Eagles, Tuchel will know his team selection will have to be spot on to see his side progress into the final.
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After a gruelling 120 minutes of football in Madrid on Tuesday that saw Chelsea suffer heartbreak in the Champions League, Tuchel may be tempted to change his team a bit for the short trip to Wembley. One man, however, who has made a real claim to be involved from the start in London is Timo Werner.
The 26-year-old forward has scored 10 goals in all competitions for Chelsea this season and three of them have come in the past few days. After notching twice against Southampton last weekend, Werner was given the nod in the Blues' trip to the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday and he scored the visitors' third of the evening - which at one stage looked like it was going to be the winning goal for Chelsea.
The German is beginning to show glimpses of the form he showcased on a regular basis at RB Leipzig. Chelsea thought they were signing one of European football's top strikers in 2020, with competition from the likes of Liverpool, but he has been far from the level that convinced the Blues to pay close to £50million for his services.
The summer transfer window looked set to be a period of consistent links away from Chelsea for Werner, but this chance to salvage his career at Stamford Bridge has come along and he must take it. Every game is massive for Werner now, with Crystal Palace being no exception.
There's no guarantee Werner will start against the Eagles, of course, but the fact he was taken off on 83 minutes with extra-time looming hints that he might. His form, also, suggests that he should be used heavily at Wembley.
Werner has the chance to score in three consecutive matches for Chelsea for just the second time since joining the club almost two years ago. The German actually scored in four matches on the bounce, starting on October 28, 2020, and ending on November 7, 2020, last season.
Many Chelsea supporters were impressed and excited by what they witnessed from Werner against Real Madrid and Southampton, but the overriding message is for the forward to produce this sort of form on a consistent basis. That is what he needs to do.
Tuchel recently admitted Werner still needs to adapt to the physicality levels in England. "You sign up for Chelsea, or a top club, you have to live up to it and accept the pressure that comes with it.
"You have to help yourself in training and you come on the pitch as a substitute. You have to be ready when the chances come to be there and this is what he did [against Southampton].
"But he still needs to learn to adapt through moments like this because he used to play regularly and used to teams built for him and he played for a transition team before. He still needs to adapt to the physicality still of the league and it is a process."
Over the past couple of games, Werner's physicality has not been an issue. He's avoided going into tussles with bigger and stronger defenders. He's instead either played on the shoulder or backed off them to find some space elsewhere.
The former Leipzig man needs to do the same against Crystal Palace. Although, Palace have Marc Guehi, who is particularly speedy for a central defender, so it may be wise for Werner to target Joachim Andersen at Wembley if he does get the nod.
There is a chance Werner starts on the left, with Kai Havertz in the centre. If this is the case, finding space between the right centre-back, likely to be Andersen, and the right-back, that could be Nathaniel Clyne.
