FORMER Chelsea star Andre Schurrle is swapping football pitches for a different type of grass – by investing in a CANNABIS company.
The German World Cup winner hung up his boots during the summer after leaving Borussia Dortmund.
Andre Schurrle, right, and Mario Gotze are investing in a cannabis businessCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Schurrle, 30, now reportedly plans to plough funds into the Sanity Group.
The Berlin-based firm, founded in 2018, grows cannabis for medicinal purposes. It is legal in Germany.
Elements of the plant can be used to prevent inflammations and relieve pain.
Schurrle’s former Germany and Dortmund team-mate Mario Gotze has been lined up as a fellow investor.
Rapper Will.i.am, 45, model Stefanie Giesinger, 24, and ex-Germany midfielder Dennis Aogo, 33, are also planning to buy stakes in the company.
A company spokesman told Germany’s top-selling paper Bild that they have held talks with Schurrle and Gotze, 28, about working together.
And industry sources revealed that Sanity Group chief Finn Age Hansel approached the footballers in person in early 2020.
The German businessman is said to have been in constant contact with them since then.
Rapper Will.i.am is also believed to be interested in investingCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The start-up is understood to have already raised £20million from investors including Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun.
Chelsea paid Bayer Leverkusen £18m for winger Schurrle in 2013.
He scored 14 goals in 65 games before a £22m move to Wolfsburg in January 2015.
The 57-cap international went on to have loan spells with Fulham and Spartak Moscow before retiring in July.
Of course Schurrle isn’t the only big sporting name to invest in cannabis.
Boxing legend Mike Tyson has been selling cannabis products since 2016 through his Tyson Holistic label.
It is believed to earn him a mind-blowing £500,000 A MONTH.
Mike Tyson goes for a walk around his cannabis farm that makes half a million dollars a month
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
