German international Julian Draxler is Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s next major transfer target; his interest has been peaked by news that the Schalke star apparently has a release clause in his contract of about £35million.
This is not the first time the Gunners have been linked with Draxler – his name was mentioned previously when he was still a teenager, and Arsenal were mocked somewhat for showing interest in yet another youngster when their first eleven was – at the time – short of the required quality to mount of a title challenge.
Things have changed now of course, and given his experience at the top-level – the playmaker has 89 first team appearances for Schalke to his name despite being only 20 – Wenger clearly believes he is the right man to take Arsenal to the next level.
Rumours abound that Wenger would look to turn Draxler into a similar player to Robin van Persie, and would deploy him alongside or just behind main striker Olivier Giroud. For this to be effective Draxler will likely need to add a few more goals to his game; he has 14 for Schalke, and he has a solitary goal at international level in his 10 caps for Germany.
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