Chelsea’s former winger Andre Schurrle has told BBC’s World Service that Jose Mourinho sent him a text to let him know that he’d won a Premier League winner’s medal.
Schurrle said, “I didn’t know that I’d get a medal when I didn’t play most of the second half of the season. [He] sent me a text to say that I’d get a medal and he asked me to come to the last game. That was very nice for me”.
Schurrle made fourteen appearances for Chelsea, with most of those coming from the substitutes bench. Premier League rules state that a player must make at least five appearances in order to get a winner’s medal, so the 24-year-old more than ticket the necessary boxes.
Having moved to Wolfsburg for £22m, however, the German International had not expected to receive any recognition. He said, “I’m really happy for the boys. They played a very good second half of the season so of course, for me, it’s good to get a medal but the boys did the work”.
The Premier League winner’s medal means Schurrle could end the season with a bizarre hat-trick of medals for the season, having already won a World Cup winner’s medal with Germany in Brazil last year. Meanwhile Wolfsburg are gearing up to play against Borussia Dortmund in the final of the German Cup on the 30th of May.
Schurrle feels that his exploits with Germany at the World Cup may well have accelerated his exit from Chelsea, with exhaustion playing a major part in his lack of starts in games of the high intensity of the Premier League.
He said, “I had the World Cup which was very perfect for me and the start of the season was good as well. Then there came a little bit of a period for me where my body didn’t feel very good, I was not clear in my head and I didn’t have as many good moments for Chelsea. I wanted to come back to the Bundesliga, I wanted to feel a little bit more in the team and to get a bit more playing time”.
Schurrle was aware when he joined Chelsea that starts may be limited, owing to the quality of player on the West London club’s books, saying, “It can be difficult to get first team football because you have so many good players. I think I took my chances very well because normally every time I got playing time I did something good and I scored”.
Despite making just 20 starts for Chelsea during his time there, with a further 24 appearances from the bench, the German has no regrets about his time at Chelsea. In fact, he told the BBC, “If you have the chance, you have got to go there”.
Of course, getting a Premier League winner’s medal for making just fourteen appearances will always taint your opinion of any experience, but there’s no question that Schurrle remains loyal over his time at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho.