Which players should Chelsea be keeping tabs on as potential replacements for their troubled German winger?
Andre Schurrle’s has often been criticised by Chelsea fans for his ‘inconsistency’, although that term is looking kinder with every passing week. The German winger made no impression in his two most recent starts, despite them being against Shrewsbury and Maribor.
This has lead to rumours linking the winger with an exit from Stamford Bridge. If these rumours are true, who should the Blues look to as a replacement? Here are our top ten candidates.
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10) Karim Bellarabi – Bayer Leverkusen
Andre Schurrle’s move to Chelsea cleared the way for Bellarabi’s rise to the Leverkusen first team, and since returning from his loan spell at Brainwashing he’s proved to be a huge hit. The pacy winger has recently picked up his first Germany caps, and his contract only has 18 months left to run.
9) Marco Reus – Borussia Dortmund
Reus is being chased by Europe’s biggest clubs, especially now it’s known he has a €25m release clause. Like Schurrle, he can play out wide or up front as a false nine, although he does the latter considerably better than Chelsea’s troubled attacker.
8) Andre Ayew – Marseille
Marseille’s Ghanaian winger has a fantastic attitude which would fit perfectly with the ethos Mourinho is developing at Chelsea. He’s been key to Marseille’s dynamic attacking play under Marcelo Bielsa this season. He’s also out of contract in the summer, meaning he would be a cheap January buy for the Blues.
7) José Callejon – Napoli
José Mourinho knows his namesake from his time at Real Madrid, and will have been impressed to his his former charge’s success in Serie A this season, where the winger has scored an amazing eight goals in 10 starts.
6) Lucas Piazon – Chelsea
The Brazilian has never been given a chance at Chelsea, despite impressing in successive loan spells at Vitesse, Malaga and now Frankfurt. Chelsea let Kevin de Bruyne go under similar circumstances in the summer, and the Belgian is now impressing in the Bundesliga. Could Schurrle’s departure give Piazon the break he’s been waiting for?
5) Julian Draxler – Schalke
Draxler is one of Europe’s hot properties, and Jose Mourinho would love the chance to mould the young German into a star. He can play on the left, although he’s not a natural wideman. Perhaps Chelsea could organise a Schurrle part exchange with Schalke?
4) James Milner – Manchester City
It’s an outside bet for sure, but there’s plenty of logic to it too. Chelsea are desperately short of homegrown players, and Milner would take up one of those slots. Even better, the Manchester City man is out on contract in the summer, meaning Chelsea could pick him up cheap in January or free in July. He may not have the technical ability of Eden Hazard, but he has a great work rate, and could do Ramires’ job as as tactically flexible winger/midfielder.
3) Sofiane Feghouli – Valencia
The Algerian is being watched by a lot of sides after a great World Cup. Like Schurrle the Valencia attacker is very positionally flexible. He has the pace to play out wide and the brains to play centrally.
2) Son Heung-Min – Bayer Leverkusen
The Leverkusen man scored a double in the German club’s last Champions League fixture, showing off his incredible speed and two-footed finishing. He’s got a great engine too, and is at the top of plenty of big European sides’ shopping lists.
1) Juan Cuadrado – Fiorentina
After a summer in which he was repeatedly linked with top clubs like Manchester United, the Colombian winger stayed put in Florence.
He’s continued to put in great performances since then, and as a genuine wide-man would offer a great alternative to Eden Hazard and Willian, who like to cut inside.