Schurrle signing confirmed; will wear #14

[Superblue 6,370]

Yeah but the key here for Chelsea is a younger model, for potential talent in developing them.

In that department AVB is miles ahead. It is clear that he fell out with the club players, but those where the older ones.

He made a mistake, but so did Mourinho at Madrid!

AVB will learn from his mistake as well Mourinho.

Now I don't doubt Mourinho is a top coach, but his record is limited in this.....

But you can also make the case that Mourinho being a top coach, he merits such a challenge.

Just that if you ask me who would be the ideal manager for a project long term with attractive football and bringing youngster right now? I will say AVB.

I don't understand people thinking AVB is fantastic for a 'long term project'? AVB has yet to spend more than one season at any club, and already there is talk of him jumping ship this summer to PSG.

Mourinho over the years has generally shown a preference to more established players, but it is not without exceptions. Cech and Robben were both very young and raw and Mourinho made them two of our most intergral players in his first reign, and similarly Varane at Real Madrid. If they are good enough, Mourinho will play them and that is a big difference with Chelsea's group of players now - a number of our younger players such as Hazard and Oscar are amongst our best players at the club and Mourinho IMO will happily play and trust them and get the best out of them. At Chelsea, Inter and Real he had the instant pressure of results and got them; this time round with all the talk of the importance of stability, you can't help but assume Mourinho will be given the time and patience to develop a number of these young players.

I think in regards to a long term project both have a lot to prove that they can excel, but I would still prefer Mourinho and his proven track record over AVB for Chelsea.

[Tomo 21,733]

Just that if you ask me who would be the ideal manager for a project long term with attractive football and bringing youngster right now? I will say AVB.

AVB was the main culprit for McEachran, Lukaku and even Bertrand losing a year.

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

A few stats from last season about our new German Andre Schurrle compared with some of our players from last season. (League only)

Goals: 11 (Lampard had our most with 12)

Assists: 7 (Mata had our most with 12

Shots per game: 3.6, most in the Bundesliga (Demba Ba averaged 3.3)

Successful dribbles per game: 3.2 (Hazard had our most with 1.8)

Turnovers per game: 1.9 (Torres had our most with 1.9)

Key passes per game: 1.2 (Mata had our most with 2.7)

Accurate crosses per game: 0.5 (Mata had our most with 1.3)

Shot accuracy: 57% (Hazard had our highest with 60%)

Average pass completion: 79% (Mikel had our highest with 88.9%)

He had the most shots (122) and also missed the most clear cut chances (20) of all players in the Bundesliga last season.

Of 125 players with 10+ goals in Europe's top 5 leagues last season he had the 2nd worst conversion rate (9%).

lol, you got the basic stats completely wrong but the more exotic stats right

Lampard has 15 goals in the league alone

Mata has 17 assists in the league

+Schürrle also wins 0,5 aerial duels per game which is rather bad for a s.o. of his height, but not so grave cos that is not his job

[The Skipper 20,593]

No-knees Ba was a bargain? Bore off mate.

Courtois and De Bruyne were youth players who weren't even capped by Belgium. Fair play to the scouts for spotting their talent but I wouldn't consider them shrewd buys.

Bargains are Ozil for £12m, Cazorla (£16m) or £18m for Kagawa. Relatively cheap fees for proven talent who are miles better than Shirley and are legitimate starting material.

I blast the club because I think that fat bastard Gourlay and his cronies are all clowns and they've done nothing to prove otherwise.

It's okay to constantly deride and slag off Torres & Mikel but the morons that sacked Carlo in a corridor, got rid of the man who gave the club it's most joyous moment for Rafa of all people 3 months in the season, invest more of their time with overseas fans than local supporters and paid a combined £80m for Shevchenko and Torres who were both clearly way past their prime aren't fair game?

Amazing logic.

What? Because Ba presumable has "dodgy knees" (even though he hasn't been seriously injured for years now) you wouldn't call his £7.5m a bargain signing even though he's worth probably double that? You wouldn't call KDB or Courtois "shrewd signings" because they weren't internationals and will only give the scouts credit for finding them and not give the club, who employ these scouts by the way, credit for actually pushing through and signing them whilst now both their values have easily more than tripled? What about Azpilicueta then? He's forced himself into the starting line up. Or if you go even further back off the top of my head Ivanovic? Anelka? Will you give the club no credit for signing them for pretty much bargain fees either?

The grass is always greener on the other side for you. Yes, Real signed Ozil for £12m, Arsenal signed Cazorla for £16m, and United signed Kagawa for £18m(hardly a bargain to begin with when he hasn't really proven himself for United yet), but why you're using those figures to constantly deride the club like Real, United or Arsenal haven't made bad deals in the past? Why do you overlook the negatives for them but fail to do so for us?

Look, I haven't been happy with some of the stuff the board has done either but what's "amazing logic" is how you love to deliberately overlook every positive thing that the club have done over the last few years, brush them off like it's nothing when they're clearly learning from their mistakes, but easily point out the negatives and act like we're the worst run club in club football. You're just putting a hyperbole on everything bad and act like everything the club does is the end of the world.

[YouNameIt 1,511]

shitl. i hoped the deal was off, as reported in Germany. Fuck it. This means we won't sign Hulk or another, better winger.

Hulk? Who the hell wants that overhyped and overpaid guy? Schurrle is a very good squad player, exacly what we need.

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

A deeplying playmaker obviously

Whatever. We got enough playmakers, no idea why we need to play 4. Oscar, Mata, Hazard are still all three starters for me and they are creative enough. Also Lampard, Romeu and Chalobah, Josh, if they comes back can all play a decent pass from deep. It's not that there is no way from midfield to attack. I think our problem is rather we often are too narrow and do not enough space. A really good deep lying playmaker like Modric would help us offensively with his immense quality, but I do not see the need to sign a DLP only for having one. A DLP like Banega, CAbaye or Etxebarria would not really be that much of an upgrade. As long as Mazacar all start, I am rather concerned about the pivot protecting the back. As long as we play 3-4 players who literally can't defend, safety comes first. De Rossi could partner any of our midfielders and we would have a pivot that would provide a much better all-round package with and without the ball. If we sign a DLP, we would be slightly more creative but much more vulnerable. We lack pace and steel not skill or creativity.

[Jase 43,479]

André Schürrle ‏@Andre_Schuerrle

Thank you all for your nice words!! I am so happy that they reached the agreement:) #behappy #thankyouall

[Hutcho 8,443]

His twitter still says bayer 04 on it.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Imagine the tactical possibilities Schurrle and Cavani would give Jose Mourinho.

[Jase 43,479]

His twitter still says bayer 04 on it.

That's because he still hasn't agreed personal terms, complete the medical etc with us yet.

Took awhile for Hazard to change his when he joined us.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Whatever. We got enough playmakers, no idea why we need to play 4. Oscar, Mata, Hazard are still all three starters for me and they are creative enough. Also Lampard, Romeu and Chalobah, Josh, if they comes back can all play a decent pass from deep. It's not that there is no way from midfield to attack. I think our problem is rather we often are too narrow and do not enough space. A really good deep lying playmaker like Modric would help us offensively with his immense quality, but I do not see the need to sign a DLP only for having one. A DLP like Banega, CAbaye or Etxebarria would not really be that much of an upgrade. As long as Mazacar all start, I am rather concerned about the pivot protecting the back. As long as we play 3-4 players who literally can't defend, safety comes first. De Rossi could partner any of our midfielders and we would have a pivot that would provide a much better all-round package with and without the ball. If we sign a DLP, we would be slightly more creative but much more vulnerable. We lack pace and steel not skill or creativity.

What he means is a deep lying playmaker for the pivot - one that can connect the defence and attack together - something we sorely missed last season, and is the reason why Luiz was pushed up to midfield.

[Azpinator 2,325]

Being too passionate about your team (and football in general) can make you a drama queen sometimes. Don't make it too hard on your selves.. It's ok to criticise but not too much especially this early. Just support the lad, he's clearly into playing for Chelsea and that's enough for me I think.

[Hutcho 8,443]

That's because he still hasn't agreed personal terms, complete the medical etc with us yet.

Took awhile for Hazard to change his when he joined us.

Since when do the CFC website ever announce anything before personal terms have been completed?

[Jase 43,479]

Since when do the CFC website ever announce anything before personal terms have been completed?

They do announce when a fee/deal has been agreed with another club.

[Hutcho 8,443]

They do announce when a fee/deal has been agreed with another club.

But straight away. A. It's normally the last place to get announced and B. I can't remember seeing the CFC page announce a signing without personal terms being already agreed, as they generally are so slow to announce it that everything is agreed by then.

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

What he means is a deep lying playmaker for the pivot - one that can connect the defence and attack together - something we sorely missed last season, and is the reason why Luiz was pushed up to midfield.

I got it FFS. Read my fuckin post than you will get what i mean.

[Jase 43,479]

But straight away. A. It's normally the last place to get announced and B. I can't remember seeing the CFC page announce a signing without personal terms being already agreed, as they generally are so slow to announce it that everything is agreed by then.

Pardon me for my blurness but think I've got lost here.

The club has announced on the site that we have agreed a deal with Leverkusen for Schurrle, only subject to agreeing personal terms, medical etc. They are slow yes but it has happened in the past with others as well.

[Hutcho 8,443]

Pardon me for my blurness but think I've got lost here.

The club has announced on the site that we have agreed a deal with Leverkusen for Schurrle, only subject to agreeing personal terms, medical etc. They are slow yes but it has happened in the past with others as well.

And i am saying that i find it quite weird, because i can't remember it happenning before because it is so slow. I'm sure it has happenned before, but generally most of these things start off with:

We are pleased to announce the signing of....

Rather than,

A deal has been agreed subject to personal terms. (Thats what Skysports generally reports early).