Chelsea: Do Jose Mourinho's Blues Really Need Andre Schurrle?

It's not often the arrival of a multi-million pound signing is greeted with skepticism and celebration in equal measure, but where Chelsea and Andre Schurrle are concerned, it's a situation both club and player find themselves in.

Chelsea announced last week that they had agreed to a reported £18 million fee with Schurrle's current club Bayer Leverkusen for his services, according to ChelseaFC.com, and since that time, the wisdom of his capture has been cast into doubt.

On one hand, fans are excited by the prospect another emerging talent to arrive at Stamford Bridge, but on the other, concerns are abound as to the cost Schurrle's presence will have.

At 22, the German certainly fits the bill for Chelsea—he's young and a rising star in the European game. But then so too are Oscar, Eden Hazard and Juan Mata, not to mention the countless academy players the club had on loan last term, flourishing away from the Stamford Bridge glare. 

The Oscar-Hazard-Mata combination was a major positive for Chelsea in 2012-13, a season in which the Blues came crashing down to Earth with managerial changes and disappointing results initially tarnishing their status as European champions.

With transitions on and off the pitch enveloping the club in recent years, the trio, who would become known as the "Three Amigos," gave fans something to shout about as they pondered what the future holds in West London. They were devastating at times, playing a major role in Chelsea's end-of-season success, so it's natural some fear what adding Schurrle into the equation might do for Chelsea's dynamic.

If indeed the Blues maintain their 4-2-3-1 approach under Jose Mourinho's direction, Schurrle’s inclusion would mean one of Oscar, Hazard or Mata missing out.

Is Schurrle really that good? No, is the short answer.

Sure, he has shown how dynamic he can be for club and country, but he is not a player with the attributes to complement that threesome that is only going to get better with time and experience.

It's not just about breaking up the "Three Amigos," either. Equally disturbing is that another player has been added to an already congested midfield area, meaning Chelsea's considerable talents at the youth level will find a route to the first team a task more difficult than ever to negotiate.

All this said, who are we to question Mourinho? The Portuguese undoubtedly has a plan for how to integrate the first signing of his second spell in West London.

Schurrle scored 42 goals for Leverkusen and Germany last season, so while we can concern ourselves with the fate of Chelsea’s midfield magicians, it could be the status of Fernando Torres and Demba Ba that is under more threat.

Edinson Cavani, according to The Guardian (via the Press Association), Wayne Rooney, via Rik Sharma of the Daily Mail, Falcao, according to Metro—they’ve all been linked with the Blues this summer. In Schurrle, Mourinho may have already found the man to lead his new-look attack.