Andre Schurrle said fans’ jealousy drove him to return to England and is why many Germany internationals do not play in the Bundesliga.
Schurrle, 27, joined Fulham last month on a two-year loan from Borussia Dortmund, the club he joined from Wolfsburg in 2016.
He spent two mediocre seasons at Dortmund, scoring three Bundesliga goals in 33 of a possible 68 appearances, and not only did he lose his place in the national team, he became a target of ironic chants of “Schuuuu” and “We’ll drink until Schurrle scores” from some supporters.
“We had a difficult last two years when I was in Dortmund,” Schurrle, who earned a Premier League winners’ medal with Chelsea in 2015, told the Sun. “It was not easy, the relationship between fans and players. It’s a big jealousy thing in Germany that you have from fans — not the hardcore fans, because they always stand behind their team.
“It’s not easy, especially for a German national team player who did great things in the past and maybe is struggling. That’s why I think most of the German national team play abroad because if you don’t play for Bayern Munich and you don’t always win, it’s difficult.”
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A number of Germany internationals, including Toni Kroos, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Antonio Rudiger, Emre Can, Sami Khedira, Leroy Sane, Julian Draxler and Ilkay Gudogan, do not play in the Bundesliga, and only Kroos has played for Bayern during his time in the league.
Schurrle, who also played for Mainz and Bayer Leverkusen before leaving for Chelsea in summer 2013, told kicker the fans were not the only reason he returned to London as Dortmund’s leadership said he would be surplus to requirements.
“I talked to the coach [Lucien Favre] and [sporting director] Michael Zorc,” Schurrle said. “It was said that on my position there are many options. And I concluded that it’s better to move on, even more so because Fulham went to great lengths.”
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