The long wait for San Jose’s biggest signing is starting to clear. After weeks of anticipation and a visa-related delay that kept him out of the MLS season opener, Timo Werner is now in the Bay Area and trending toward being available for the Earthquakes’ next match. The German Consulate General San Francisco posted “Willkommen” to Werner in the Bay Area on Jan. 30, welcoming him ahead of his new chapter with the Quakes. The timing matters because the visa situation has been the main reason fans haven’t seen him yet. Bruce Arena said last week that Werner had not arrived and the club was still working through the process. Now, the next step looks close.
A new update from RotoWire reports Werner finalized the necessary visa paperwork in Berlin on Tuesday and is expected to be an option for San Jose’s Saturday matchup against Atlanta United. He was unavailable for the Sporting Kansas City opener while waiting on his work visa, but that hurdle “now appears to be cleared,” putting his debut within reach after arriving at SFO this night.
Werner’s move was never framed as a normal MLS signing. When San Jose announced the deal, the club called it the biggest signing in Earthquakes history, acquiring Werner from RB Leipzig on a permanent transfer and signing him to a Designated Player contract through June 2028. The Quakes started the season without their headline forward while fans waited for the paperwork to catch up to the announcement.
If Werner is available, his first real window could come on a night the club already has circled: San Jose vs. Atlanta United, the match scheduled to feature the on-field debut of the Grateful Dead ‘Dead Kit’.
For the Earthquakes, it’s a clean storyline swing: the season has started, the hype has built, and now the final piece — seeing Werner in black and blue — is finally close.
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