Latest reports in England are confirming that Crystal Palace were interested in bringing in Germany star Andre Schurrle. The World Cup winner was a target for the Eagles in the January transfer window. However, a move failed to transpire as Borussia Dortmund were not ready to lose another player in the midst of an injury crisis.
Dortmund signed Schurrle last season for a fee of £26.9 million, penning a five-year deal at the Westfalenstadion. However, in his one and a half year spell at the club, he has been unable to break into the first team on a regular basis and has been frustrated by his time at the club.
Schurrle has prior experience of playing in the Premier League when he played for Chelsea but failed to shine at the club. Despite having a healthy scoring return, he was axed by the then Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. It now seems he might have another chance next season to prove his mettle in England with Palace keen to launch another bid this summer.
The Eagles have had their own drama to deal with. They had the worst possible start to the season. After the first seven-game weeks, the team was sitting on zero points having lost all seven matches. It eventually led to the sacking of manager Frank De Boer and the Dutchman was replaced by Roy Hodgson. The change did not have an immediate effect but the big turnaround came with a win against champions Chelsea.
A turnaround of sorts has come since then and Palace are now standing on the 15th spot on the Premier League table. The Palace players who had been inconsistent and unimpressive, to say the least, are showing signs of hard work and churning out decent performances. Moreover, it was exposed that missing Christian Benteke was not the only reason for the club suffering this season. Their midfield leaders Yohan Cabaye and James McArthur have been poor and naturally despite having some fast attackers like Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend in the side there has not been enough supply of balls for them to play with.
With Palace having plenty of injuries to deal with, it has been yet another headache for Hodgson. The Palace boss is without impressive youngster Ruben Loftus-Cheek who had an impressive start to the season but an unfortunate injury ruled him out of further action this season. Hodgson’s defence is also particularly worth worrying with plenty of key players including the likes of Martin Kelly, Julian Speroni and Scott Dann missing in action; something that might play a crucial role in the Eagles getting relegated as they are still very much near the relegation zone.
However, should they stay up, a deal for Schurrle can be considered as he would add the very important of a goal-scoring dimension to their team?
