At Age 29 in football is when most players are at their peak of their career, but for Andre Schurrle, he has decided to call it quits at a very ripe age.
Having won the Premier League at Stamford Bridge, as well as the German Cup with both Dortmund and Wolfsburg and the World Cup in 2014, Schurrle has decided to bow out of the professional game at such a young age.
Schurrle established himself as one of the brightest young footballers in Germany during his spell at Mainz and played a couple of seasons at Bayer Leverkusen before joining Chelsea in 2013.
Schurrle mutually terminated his contract with Dortmund on July 1 and then announced his retirement on July 17.
“The decision has matured in me for a long time,” he said in an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel. “I no longer need the applause. The depths became deeper and the highlights less and less.
“You always have to play a certain role in order to survive in the business otherwise you will lose your job and will not get a new one. Only performance on the pitch counts.”
The 29-year-old went on to make 65 appearances for the Blues in all competitions, scoring 14 goals and collecting 3 assists.