It would be fair to say that Chelsea have not been part of any huge transfer stories over the past few weeks. However, it has now come to light that there is plenty of work going on behind the scenes, after the Blues had a bid for Bayer Leverkusen striker Andre Schurrle rejected just several days ago.

According to Leverkusen, the Blues made an offer of approximately £16m but it was immediately turned down. Club chief executive Wolfgang Holzhauser told SID, “We were presented with a very concrete offer from Chelsea for Andre of beyond the 20 million euro mark. The sum was pushed back and forth between the two clubs. We ultimately chose Andre. Andre is very valuable for us. He has also made it clear he would like to stay with us.”

The reports of an offer will certainly come as a shock to Blues fans, who have heard little speculation linking the 21-year-old with a move to Stamford Bridge over recent times. However, considering his high reputation in his homeland, it really is no surprise to see the club attracted by such a player. Having made his debut at Mainz 05, Schurrle has gone on to become of the most exciting attacking men in the Bundesliga and is slowly making his mark in the national team as well.

It remains to be seen whether the pursuit of Schurrle means that the club are no longer tracking Brazilian striker Hulk. Even though the Porto star has been linked with the Blues throughout the summer, it is understand that the two clubs are a long way apart on the valuation of the 25-year-old. With all of this being said, it’s worth pointing out that Schurrle can also be utilised as a winger – meaning that there may be no correlation between the two transfers.