The Bundesliga club are preparing for life without Schurrle.
With winger Andre Schurrle seemingly Chelsea bound, Bayer Leverkusen have targeted FSV Mainz forward Nicolai Muller as their preferred replacement, reports Sky Sports.
A deal for Schurrle is as good as done according to Leverkusen director Wolfgang Holzhauser, who revealed that midfielder Kevin De Bruyne would be going the other way on-loan to sweeten the deal.
Yet even with De Bruyne coming in the Bundesliga side want to snap up a more permanent replacement for their 22-year-old winger and Muller is apparently the ideal fit.
The 25-year-old scored eight goals and contributed five assists during his side’s league campaign this season, which saw the German club finish 13th in the table.
Muller signed for Mainz from then Bundesliga 2 side Greuther Furth in the summer of 2011 for the modest sum of £1.6m.
Football website transfermarkt.com now value the forward at £3.1m however, although Leverkusen will easily be able to meet this price with the £20m they are due to receive from Chelsea for Schurrle.
Yet Muller himself claims that he knows nothing of the deal.
“I have just read about a potential interest in me from Bayer Leverkusen but I am not aware of anything concrete,” the German international was quoted on Sky Sports.
The winger may be tempted by Champions League football next season though, as Leverkusen have secured their place in Europe’s top competition after finishing third in the German top flight behind 2013 finalists Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Muller made his international debut for Germany on Wednesday in a 4-2 victory over Ecuador following an impressive current campaign from the forward.
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