Chelsea Transfer News: £25 Million Striker Andre Schurrle is Drogba Replacement?

Metro). The German international impressed whilst on Euro 2012 duty and although he only made a few appearances in this summer's tournament, he did impress the Chelsea hierarchy and Di Matteo now believes he could be Didier Drogba's long-term successor to lead the forward line. Despite already splashing almost £65 million on new acquisitions Eden Hazard (£32 million), Oscar (£25 million) and Marko Marin (£7 million), Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has given the go-ahead for Di Matteo to continue spending so the European Champions can improve on their lowly 6th placed finish from last season. 21-year-old Schurrle had apparently caught the eye of Chelsea's former boss Andre Villas-Boas last summer but Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller claimed the Stamford Bridge club had made an enquiry over his availability;

"It's true. There was interest from England last year. It's obvious that clubs keep asking us about Andre," Voller said. "We are not letting go of him, though," he added. "We will see how interesting it is when it becomes concrete." "I and my agent have not had any contact so we will just have to wait." he said. "We will see how interesting it is when it becomes concrete.

Schurle only managed to score six goals in the Bundesliga last term but critics of Leverkusen manager Sami Hyypia suggest this was because he was forced to play out-wide instead of in a striker's role. His record for Germany is much more impressive, netting 7 times in 16 games at international level.