André Schürrle has no regrets about Chelsea career
• Germany international faces press after £24m exit
• ‘I wanted to stay, but I also wanted to play football’
• ‘I still love Chelsea, the staff; I improved myself there’
• Chelsea sell Schürrle and sign £27m Juan Cuadrado
Wolfsburg’s new £24m signing André Schürrle has said he has no regrets about his Chelsea career after completing his move back to the Bundesliga in search of regular football.
The Germany international, whose Wolfsburg contract runs to 2019, admitted he had wanted to stay in London, but felt a lack of opportunities forced his hand.
Schürrle told a news conference: “I wanted to stay but the last weeks or last month I tended towards changing something because I wanted to do what is fun for me and that is to play football. I could only do it briefly at Chelsea in the past weeks.”
Schürrle, who joined Chelsea in 2013, failed to earn a regular first-team place at Stamford Bridge this season, with José Mourinho opting to play Oscar, Eden Hazard and Willian just behind Diego Costa.
“I will never regret [Chelsea],” he said. “I still love this club, the staff are amazing. I developed my game, I improved myself there. I was a different player when I came to Chelsea. It helped me a lot.”
Expectations are high for Schürrle at Wolfsburg following the big-money transfer, which the club’s sports director Klaus Allofs was quick to defend.
“We want to improve the team step by step. But when you get a chance to sign a player, a World Cup winner like André who has already proved his worth in the Bundesliga, then you have to do it.
“The financial aspect has been made into an issue but an engagement of this size makes sense. I don’t think we are breaking the bank if you look what is happening around Europe.”
Wolfsburg, enjoying the financial backing of the car maker Volkswagen, are second in the table, eight points behind the leaders Bayern Munich who they thrashed 4-1 at home on Sunday.
