• Premier League

Schurrle says he belongs at Chelsea and will stay

Andre Schurrle says he "belongs" at Chelsea and his long-term future lies with the Stamford Bridge club.

The midfielder has been a bit-part player for the last few weeks but scored the second goal in Chelsea's 3-1 win against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Illness contributed to Schurrle's spell on the fringe of the team but, with manager Jose Mourinho insisting the German remains a part of his plans, the £18 million-signing's future at the club looks more assured.

"I can just laugh all the talk of leaving off. I am not going to change the club in the transfer window," Schurrle told the Evening Standard after speculation he could be made available in January.

"I am happy where I am, I am happy in London. I love the city, I love the fans. We have a great team and want to win something this season. This is where I belong and where I want to help. I know what the manager wants for me and that he likes me."

Mourinho demands a lot from his players and claimed Schurrle still needs time to make an impact in the Premier League despite joining Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen in 2013.

But the manager said: "He is in my plans. We had a problem when he went to the national team the last time and he came back very, very ill and was in trouble for quite a long time.

"Today [Wednesday] he had 75 minutes to improve his form, he is a player who needs to adapt better to the Premier League but is also a player that in three shots usually scores a goal. That's an important quality."

Chelsea could face a difficult draw in the last-16 of the Champions League, with Paris Saint Germain, Juventus, Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk or Leverkusen all possible opponents, and Mourinho has said he is wary of the competition's "sharks".

However, Schurrle remained confident. He said: "We can rotate and make changes and we still have so much quality on the pitch. We have a big squad - that's what we need for our four goals [of winning four competitions].

"We don't fear anybody. If we play our best we can beat everyone."

Andre Schurrle scored Chelsea's second goal against Sporting Lisbon © Getty Images

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