Chelsea attacker Andre Schuerrle believes that he has now fully settled at Stamford Bridge and is “living the dream at my dream club.”
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caption:Andre Schuerrle scored his first Chelsea hat trick against Fulham earlier this month.
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Schuerrle joined Chelsea from Leverkusen in the summer of 2013 and has started nine Premier League matches for the Blues.
The Germany international has struggled at times to assert himself on the first-team picture but has been used with increasing regularity in recent weeks and celebrated his first hat trick for Jose Mourinho’s side against Fulham earlier this month.
“I do have the feeling that I have settled in and I am accepted, have my place on the team and with the fans,” Schuerrle told kicker. “I could have had a few more starts, but that is down to problems at the start of this year.
“Overall it’s a record that shows I have found my feet. Everything fits, my decision [to join Chelsea] was right, I win minutes on the pitch. I am living my dream at my dream club.”
Schuerrle elaborated on the reasons he missed a number of matches in early 2014, with the former Leverkusen and Mainz man explaining that the switch from the Bundesliga to Premier League has been more difficult than expected.
“The switch was a revolution for me,” Schuerrle said. “It started pretty well, and I thought that it might be easier than expected. But as time went by and with all of those matches towards the end of the year my body went on strike. There was not a lot left in me at the end of the year.
“I did not have the preseason I was accustomed with in Bundesliga because for nearly a month we toured Asia and the United States. And it’s also my first season without a winter break. That has taken a toll on me.”
Schuerrle also revealed that he used the spell on the sidelines to put in extra training sessions and added that he has “come out of this phase stronger.”