Jose Mourinho reveals the reason behind Andre Schurrle's lack of first team chances

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho explains why Andre Schurrle has been away from the first team.

Andre Schurrle has been on and off from Jose Mourinho’s side this season, having started only 8 matches for the Blues in all competitions. Speaking to the club’s official website, Mourinho revealed that it was the German’s poor health that led to his struggle.

“He was very ill when he went away with the national team, very ill,” Mourinho explains. “He came back and it took a good two weeks [to recover] because it was bad, which affected him from a physical point of view.”

“When he trained with the team he had a fragile body and, as a consequence of that, a fragile mind, but he’s coming back step by step. He was on the bench against West Brom and he played 15 minutes in the last match,” he added.

Schurrle had left Bayer Leverkusen last year to join the Blues for £18 million, but since then has failed to cement his spot in the first team.