14.  ANDRE SCHURRLE

Chelsea finally completed the signing of Andre Schurrle in July 2013 after a lengthy chase for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £18 million, from Bayer Leverkusen.

He started his career at local club Ludwigshafener SC, before joining 1. FSV Mainz 05 in 2006. He spent three years playing for the club's youth teams, where he won the Under 19 Fußball-Bundesliga in 2009.

Schürrle has played as a left winger and as a centre-forward. One of Schürrle's "key asset" is his "long-distance sprinting on the counter-attack." Schürrle also has an excellent fitness level, work-rate and pace. Schürrle is considered to be a "good finisher" and "capable of executing counter-attacks effectively."

As of his signing, he had played 24 times for Germany and scored seven goals. He also represented Germany at both the under-19 and under-21 levels.