Farewell, sweet prince: Chelsea finally sell oft-injured German Messi

Once upon a time, a 5'7'' (1.70m) attacking midfielder named Marko Marin was anointed as the next big thing to come from the Germany. Before his arrival at Chelsea in 2012 in a £6.8 million transfer, the “German Messi” already had 16 caps with the German national team, including two appearances at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Safe to say, Marin didn't quite manage to fulfill that promise, in large part thanks to injury issues that had us wondering whether he’d invented an airborne strain of the hamstring pull. Marin was acquired as a contingency plan in the Eden Hazard transfer saga, but outside of impressing in preseason, he failed to make the grade at the club.

He’s spent the past three seasons on loan at four different clubs, including Sevilla, Fiorentina, Anderlecht, and Trabzonspor. He had success in Spain (Sevillian fans even tried to find him a wife), but the other spells were much less impressive. In total, Marin collected 71 appearances over the three years, to go with the 16 at Chelsea that first season.

We had often wondered if Marin will ever be actually sold, or if he’ll live out his days as a Chelsea loanee, but it looks like he’s finally moving on permanently. According to German sources, the 27-year-old is Olympiakos Piraeus on a three-year contract after successfully passing a medical with the club.

"I am happy to make a switch to a big club with a lot of tradition in which I can play internationally. It's also nice that it's a three years [deal] and there are no more loans."

-Marko Marin; Source: SPORT1

The Legend of Marko enters a brave new chapter.