Schürrle move to Wolfsburg hits snag
January 30, 2015
World Cup winner Andre Schürrle's widely-reported move to VfL Wolfsburg from Chelsea was put in doubt on Friday evening.
As the Wolves were preparing for the return to Bundesliga action against Bayern Munich, club general manager Klaus Allofs told Sky Television that he was "not fully optimistic" of signing the 24-year-old World Cup winner.
"We are facing problems which can't be solved by themselves," he said, adding that the issues were of a financial nature.
In what would be one of the biggest Bundesliga moves of the January transfer window, the 24-year-old winger looked all set to join Dieter Hecking's team on a four-year contract for a fee rumored to be around the 30 million euro mark.
Schürrle was never going to be registered in time to play against Bayern Munich on Friday night, but it was thought he could be presented to the crowd before kick-off after a number of media reports on Thursday night revealed that the player and the club had agreed personal terms.
Confirmation of the deal was still awaited however as the team prepared for its top-of-the-table clash with leaders Bayern.
"We still have to pass round a few cliffs," Allofs had said earlier on Friday. "I'm still a bit old fashioned. The contract is still not finalized and that's why we haven't announced it."
Schürrle, a predominantly left-sided winger, made 65 appearances for the Londoners, scoring 14 goals. He set up Mario Götze for Germany's winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final and was all set to join his third Bundesliga side, having already played for Mainz and Leverkusen.
If eventually confirmed, the deal is expected to set a new club transfer record to better the 22 million euros Wolves paid Chelsea for Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne a year ago.
Meanwhile, in a busy day on and off the pitch for Wolfsburg, veteran Croatian striker Ivica Olic re-signed for Hamburger SV on Friday, five years after he first left the Volksparkstadion club for Bayern Munich.