Respected journo Raphael Honigstein has intimated that Chelsea are very close to finishing a deal for Bayer Leverkusen's André Schürrle for close to 20m euros. I haven't been able to paste the tweet for some reason.

This seems like a great deal to me if it goes through.

Do they really need him?

@rai

Nope. Already have De Bruyne and Marin (both barely ever used), so I see no logic in this signing.

I don't believe they need him but he is a good player and would be really handy. 
As for Marin, maybe I'm jumping the gun, but it doesn't seem like he has the tools to start over the current of future Chelsea stars. My guess is he'll be offloaded in the not-too-distant future.

André Schürrle can play is a Striker and a Winger. As for Marin I believe we should loan him and bring back De Bruyne. 

I don't really want him i feel the money could be spent better on someone else, I'd just rather bring De Bruyne back b/c he is on loan and has been fantastic. 

This move is not the best move with all the attacking talent we have right now and I would take De Bruyne over this guy any day, but he is really talented and would be a great addition. Maybe Chelsea could get rid of Marin as he is not really playing well with Chelsea.

BTW, forgot to mention this. 
Earlier journo Rafa Honigstein tweeted:  "Mourinho to Chelsea buzz getting louder. two very different people with CFC connections insist "it's a done deal". one source an agent, the other a commercial partner of the club"

Now I'm not sure if the caveat requires that they remain in top 4 but that is all that was said. Take it as you may.

Hooray!

What in the world is Elmo doing ?!

Honigstein just said that he's 99.99% certain that Shurlle is going to be a Chelsea player next season. 

I will copy & **some excerpts to give you all a better feel for him**:

 "Bayer... is set up to play a counter-attacking style that suits Schürrles’ key attribute of pace, and he’s scored 15 goals with five assists in 34 games so far — a strong return for a wide player."
"He’s a genuine Anglophile and excited by the idea of playing in the Premier League, like best friend and former Mainz team-mate Lewis Holtby."

"Where will he play? It will be possible to field him as deep-lying, roving striker behind a more orthodox No. 9. But he’ll probably be of more immediate use as a second genuine wide player, to relieve the over-reliance of Eden Hazard. His signing also holds out the intriguing option to return Chelsea to their “traditional,” Mourinho-devised system of a 4-3-3, with Schürrle and Hazard as classic wingers and Juan Mata operating in more central role behind them."

"And the fact that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been directly involved in his signing shouldn’t hurt his prospects either."

Here is News about Kevin De Bruyne:

". Initially, Bayer had proposed a swap deal (De Bruyne plus cash) but the Londoners are only prepared to send the Belgian forward out on loan. Leverkusen will not have an option to buy either. Last week, De Bruyne was still to formally agree to this move — that’s another reason why the Schürrle deal has not been completed."

You're welcome Chelsea fans. Don't say I never cared to help you out.

Great move by Chelsea! Keep all the talented prospects, and if they want to leave then make some profit by selling them :) Thanks for sharing, Footaholic.