Chelsea could allow summer signing Marko Marin to leave on a mid-season loan, according to the Mirror. The 23 year old Marin could be used as bait to persuade Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen to part with striker Andre Schürrle, either now or at the end of the season. Marin signed for the west London club in April but has failed to establish himself at Stamford Bridge. The midfielder has yet to start a Premier League game.

Marko Marin
Reuters

The European champions are believed to be on the lookout for a striker in January and have also been linked with Newcastle United forward Demba Ba.

Schürrle is a long-time target for Roman Abramovich and the Russian was linked with the German international in the summer as well. However, the Premier League club's £25m bid was rejected. The 22 year old forward has five goals and six assists from 20 appearances so far this season.

The Blues are expected to confirm the transfer of 23 year old England international Daniel Sturridge to Liverpool in the near future and will need to add cover to their striking line; Sturridge's departure will leave only Fernando Torres as a senior striker.

Andre Schurrle
Reuters

The club were also linked to international Radamel Falcao but that deal has been put on hold after the Colombian confirmed he would not leave the Vicente Calderon in mid-season. Finally, Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez was also linked to out-of-favour Barcelona striker David Villa but the Catalans have confirmed the former Valencia star will stay at the Nou Camp for this season.

Benitez on Squad Rotation

Meanwhile, Benitez has revealed he will look to rotate his players as the Premier League enters the second half of the 2012/13 campaign. The Blues will compete in the league, the UEFA Europa League, the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup over the next few months and the former Liverpool manager is likely to ring the changes ahead of key games.

"We changed two players for the Everton game to bring in fresh legs and when you play a lot of games in a short period it is really important to have players with fresh legs and energy," the Spaniard explained to the club's Web site, adding, "All of the players want to play every game but I think they can understand now that if we want to achieve something important then we have to use the squad. They know that is the way."

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