From High Hopes to Transfer Makeweight: Where It Went Wrong for Andre Schurrle

It's time we re-think who funds Chelsea's transfer spending: is it Roman Abramovich or Wolfsburg?

Chelsea have done well out of their billionaire owner this past decade or so, and since last January Wolfsburg have ploughed an estimated £43 million into Chelsea's coffers.

Last year it was Kevin De Bruyne who moved to the Bundesliga club. Now Andre Schurrle has sealed his move back home to Germany with a transfer deadline-day move.

Wolfsburg confirmed the deal via Twitter, while BBC Sport reported the club has splashed out a cool £22 million to get their man.

Jose Mourinho has kept his word in this transfer window.

The Chelsea boss has always maintained no player would be leaving the club unless a "phenomenal offer" was made, and given what Wolfsburg have paid, there's no mistaking Chelsea have done good business. Again.

On the back of De Bruyne's sale last season, Chelsea added Nemanja Matic to their squad, and now it's Juan Cuadrado who has arrived, replacing one winger with another.

Just six months ago few people could have predicted this turn of events.

Schurrle returned to Chelsea in the summer a World Cup winner. He had played a pivotal role in Germany's success, claiming the assist for Mario Gotze's winning goal in the final and making an impact from the bench.

He started the current campaign well, too, scoring a wonderfully worked goal against Burnley on the opening weekend.

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Chelsea looked strong, an early indication of the team we have seen since, and Schurrle seemed to be an integral part of it.

Yet here he is, from a player with high hopes to being a pawn in Mourinho's game. Schurrle's star has waned so much in west London that his legacy has become that of a player being used as nothing more than collateral for Chelsea's transfer needs.

The way the club operates these days is that big names can only arrive when others leave.

It's a simple, yet effective policy and has seen Chelsea toe the line with Financial Fair Play without compromising the quality of player they can attract.

For it to work, though, Chelsea need to be ruthless, and any player with a value who isn't performing will be shown the exit door in double quick time.

De Bruyne was one of them, as was two-time Player of the Year Juan Mata, who was sold to Manchester United.

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Now it's Schurrle's turn.

After an encouraging debut campaign in England, Bleacher Report spoke to Schurrle before he jetted off to Brazil for the World Cup.

That day at Chelsea's Cobham training ground the German was affable and seemed confident he would be wearing blue for the long haul.

Schurrle wanted to be a part of what the club was creating; he wanted to be integral to Mourinho's Chelsea 2.0.

The cracks began to appear soon after the World Cup, though.

Schurrle had shown last term that he had goals in him. And not just any goals, important goals.

Look at the teams he scored against in his time at Chelsea: the opener against Manchester City in a 2-1 win in October 2013; Chelsea's second in the 6-0 thumping of Arsenal in March; the goal that put them back in contention against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final a few weeks later.

Even this season it was his goal that put Chelsea ahead against Manchester City at the Etihad.

For all those moments of magic, Schurrle struggled to develop his defensive game.

While he finished off a fine team move against City, it was his slack marking that allowed James Milner to ghost in behind him and cross for Frank Lampard to score the equaliser.

In the eyes of Mourinho, it's acts such as that which are unforgivable.

And when Schurrle stopped producing the goods going forward, it wasn't long before he became a disposable commodity at Stamford Bridge.

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It's critical in the extreme to point the finger at a player for not picking up his marker given his other qualities, but at Chelsea and other top-level clubs, it's moments like this that can decide titles.

Mourinho's team is built to exploit the smallest of margins, and he can't afford to have his players giving them to the opposition.

Schurrle had developed a habit of doing that, and the signs were he wouldn't overcome it.

He lost his manager's trust.

Suffering injury and picking up a virus while away with Germany in October didn't help his cause, and since then, we've seen mere glimpses of Schurrle's brilliance.

The German's quality remains unquestioned, but was he good enough for Chelsea? Mourinho certainly didn't think so.

And with that it's "auf wiedersehen, Andre."

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes