The timely reemergence of André Schürrle has allowed Chelsea to take firm control of the title race in addition to bringing the player back into strong consideration for Jogi Löw’s Germany side this summer. This comes after a transfer window where the purchase of Mohammed Salah from FC Basle had appeared to make the German expendable.

Schürrle has shown in the past few weeks he can provide important depth out wide or in the center of the pitch as the first attacking option off the bench. The German showed against Fulham that when provided an opportunity to start, he can provide a scoring punch. Schürrle’s hat-trick came after three months of not scoring in the league.

This past week against Spurs, Schürrle was deployed more or less as cover for Oscar whose form has dipped recently. As we saw at Leverkusen in his Bundesliga days, he can be deployed as a “false 9,” and this appeared to be an option for Mourinho when Fernando Torres was injured during warm ups.

The ability to deputize in multiple positions for a side fighting on multiple fronts has given Schürrle a road back into the Chelsea side. With the player fighting hard to be at the World Cup this summer for Germany, he is likely to continue to pushing for playing time. Just last week Jose Mourinho heaped praise on the player in an interview with BBC Five Live.

“Andre is still in a learning period. He needs to adapt to the Premier League […] Andre in front of the goal is cold. He has cold blood. He’s a really good finisher.”

The reintegration of Schürrle into the side also shows how strongly Mourinho is able to man manage players. Sitting on the periphery of the squad for many months, it seemed the German would find his way out of Stamford Bridge this summer. Instead, just as the Blues are making their strongest push for the league title and European glory this season, the Chelsea manager has seemingly pulled another rabbit out of his hat.

Since the Blues squad is deep and oozing with quality, Schürrle may not be the last member of the team seemingly out of the regular mix that contributes to the title push. Do not be surprised to see the likes of David Luiz or Demba Ba pop up and play an important role at a critical time in a future fixture.

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