There is plenty to congratulate Chelsea for, in their selling of players over the last 12 months, especially from a business point of view.
Chelsea received near enough to £40million from Manchester United for Juan Mata in the January transfer window in 2014 and made a profit when selling Kevin de Bruyne to Wolfsburg the same month. Last summer, Chelsea persuaded Paris Saint-Germain to pay £50million for David Luiz and Andre Schurrle is joining the list of players to be sold for more than they cost.
Schurrle signed for Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year contract in the summer of 2013 for £18million. Now, 18 months on, and with more substitute appearances in the Premier League than starts, he is moving to Wolfsburg for a fee somewhere between £20million and £27million.
It’s fair to say that he hasn’t been a glittering success for Chelsea. He has scored 14 goals in 64 appearances in all competitions for the club, primarily from a wide role and occasionally when playing as a striker. He was told he still needed to adapt to the Premier League in December by Jose Mourinho, who at that time insisted the Germany international was still part of his plans.
Schurrle’s performances since then haven’t helped his cause to stay and Chelsea’s interest in Juan Cuadrado has only hastened his departure. Yet Schurrle’s failure to adapt, maybe more to Mourinho’s demands than those of the Premier League, is by no means a negative indictment on his career.
He only has to look at the example of his former team-mate De Bruyne for comfort. It is perhaps a mere coincidence that Schurrle’s debut for Chelsea against Hull City saw him come on as a substitute for De Bruyne. It was also De Bruyne’s debut and he went on to make just two more Premier League appearances before joining Wolfsburg 12 months ago.
The Belgium international has brushed off his failed impact at Chelsea to set the Bundesliga alight this season with five goals and 11 assists.
He scored twice in Wolfsburg’s stunning 4-1 demolition of leaders Bayern Munich last weekend. That victory merely hardened Wolfsburg’s odds-on price in the Bundesliga betting without Bayern market. De Bruyne has flourished since leaving Chelsea, and Schurrle has the qualities to make a similar impact when the pair join forces at Wolfsburg.
Schurrle may have often been criticised by Chelsea fans, but he has proven to be a player capable of making an impact in big games. He scored in the Champions League quarter-final win over PSG last season and scored just minutes after coming on in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Manchester City earlier this campaign.
The 24-year-old also created the chance for Mario Gotze to score the only goal of the World Cup final when Germany beat Argentina last July. And, with Schurrle only being a few months older than De Bruyne, there is still plenty of time for him to demonstrate his 18 months in English football were a necessary learning curve rather than a blip in his career.
De Bruyne clearly seems to have no regrets about leaving Chelsea. With his move to Wolfsburg, Schurrle has the chance to demonstrate that there is nothing for him to be regretful about either.