André Schürrle linked to BVB switch

André Schürrle has had a rough time of things at Chelsea after his goal at the Etihad. Clearly out of favour (and also intermittently ill), the World Cup winner has found himself firmly behind Willian on the depth chart, and whenever he does get to play he plays with the sort of haunted desperation that turns him from a thoroughbred winger into a shoot-happy maniac, which is not so good if he wants to impress Jose Mourinho.

Schürrle still has his fans, of course, and it appears that he also has plenty in the Bundesliga. Specifically, he has fans in Dortmund, who Bild claim are looking hard at the Chelsea man in order to mitigate the impending departure of Marco Reus, who'll be following a well-travelled path out of BVB and towards a club that can give him real money. Naturally this story will metamorphose into a Schürrle-Reus swap deal at some point, but let's ignore the delicious prospect of Reus at Stamford Bridge, and take a look solely at the Schürrle end of the story.

Would this make sense for André? Yes. Although Borussia Dortmund are struggling this season, they're still a top-class side with the ability to compete for titles, and although they're a step down from Chelsea in terms of playing time they represent a great opportunity for Schürrle should he not feel confident of claiming a starting place with us. The wages might be an issue, but the Blues haven't been paying silly money for non-stars for some time, so he should be an affordable get for BVB.

Would this make sense for Dortmund? Again, yes. Schürrle can play on both sides at a very high level, and although he's a significant drop off from Reus, so is virtually everyone that they can afford. He's comfortable in a high-press counterattacking system, and he also played a major role in Germany winning the World Cup this year. It's difficult to imagine that there'd be much of a PR hit with this one.

And Chelsea? Sure. It's not like the club has any super-pressing needs right now bar depth in midfield, but right wing is certainly a position we wouldn't mind upgrading, and we have the financial firepower to do better than Schürrle there, as much fun as he is when he's at his best. If Dortmund wanted to come in with an attractive offer next summer, I don't think we'd hang up on them.

This, then is the sort of transfer rumour that it makes sense to keep an eye on. It seems more like a summer deal to me than a winter one, but it makes enough sense that I'd imagine we hear talk about this through the Janaury transfer window. We'll just have to wait and see, I suppose.