In an extraordinary transfer story, Atletico Madrid are poised to make a shock move for Chelsea striker Andre Schurrle. Chelsea have already sold some big-name players from the club this season in David Luiz and Romelu Lukaku, but Schurrle’s sale will be the most surprising of the lot if it goes through.
Chelsea need to sell one more foreign player to comply with the Premier League regulations. There were reports earlier that Fernando Torres would be sold to Atletico Madrid, but it seems that last season’s La Liga winners have set their sights on Schurrle.
The story was first broken by The Telegraph and The Guardian last week, but has gained steam today, with some reputed Spanish websites including Mundo and Sport reporting the move. The latter, stating The Guardian as a source, has reported that Atletico are in ‘advanced talks’ with Chelsea for the transfer of the German international. English newspaper The Independent has also covered the saga today.
Schurrle only moved to Chelsea last summer from Bayer Leverkusen and was unable to hold down a regular place in the starting XI for the Blues. He did slowly grow into a regular into the side towards the end of the season and after starring in the German team that won the World Cup in Brazil, the Chelsea fans were expecting a lot from him this season. Jose Mourinho also openly praised the 23 year-old for some of his performances last season, something that makes the transfer news all the more bizarre and intriguing.
Chelsea have already done some big business with Atletico this summer, bringing in Diego Costa and Filipe Luis for £32 million and £15 million respectively. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who was on loan from Stamford Bridge at the Spanish capital for the past three seasons, has been recalled by the Blues.
Atletico manager Diego Simeone has replaced Costa by signing Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich and Antoine Griezmann from Real Sociedad. But if he manages to capture the versatile Schurrle in the days that remain in the transfer window, Atletico will surely be contenders to the crown once again.
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