Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has made it clear that much-needed additions will be brought in, but the question trending among the fans of the north London-based club now is could one of them be Julian Draxler of Wolfsburg.
According to the Daily Star, Julian Draxler has showed strong interest in joining Arsenal this summer after the German attacker’s agent opened talks with the Wenger over a potential huge-money move from Wolfsburg.
The German international developed into one of Europe’s most thrilling young talents during his time with Schalke before making a £25.5m move to the Volkswagen Arena in the summer of 2014.
The 22-year-old German enjoyed a solid debut season at Wolfsburg, bagging 9 goals as well as notching in 8 assists in his 35 appearances in all competitions for the German side club.
He carried on his brilliant performances and this saw him secure his place in the German team for Euro 2016, where he made six appearances for his country.
According to Express, the Wolfsburg midfielder has been linked with a move to the Premier League for a while and reports from the same paper earlier this week claimed that Manchester United and Arsenal were among the suitors showing keen interest in signing the attacker.
Manchester United’s new boss Jose Mourinho has been extremely busy rebuilding the Red Devils squad left behind by Louis van Gaal with three new faces at Old Trafford this summer. However, the Portuguese coach is still believed to be keen on bringing in a new top midfielder over the coming weeks with Draxler marked his top target.
Nevertheless, it looks as though Arsenal are ahead of United, according to a report from Daily Star who are citing Italian journalist Emanuele Giulianelli as saying that the midfielder’s agent has now opened talks with the Gunners manager Arsene Wenger over a potential switch to north London.
The Italian journalist working for Gazette dello Sport claimed in his report that the north London-based club are yet to submit a formal bid to Wolfsburg, but German international would be “very keen” on moving to the Emirates if a deal could be agreed between the two clubs.
The Daily Star quotes the Italian as saying:
“Draxler’s agent has been in contact with Wenger though. No official bid by Arsenal just yet.”
“Draxler would be very keen on the move: he tried to go to Arsenal for the past 2 years.”
These claims come in the middle of reports from the German publication Bild that also suggest that the Gunners are trying to work out a deal for Draxler but they believe that it would take a £50m (€60m) offer to persuade the Wolfsburg to allow the international to move to the Emirates Stadium.
We’ll have to wait and see whether Arsenal will be prepared to meet that figure, but the report from the Express is claiming that claim that Wolfsburg have accepted that they will lose Draxler.
There are also reports that suggest that Wenger is planning to convert the player into a striker, if he manages to lure him to the Emirates.
The German midfielder has played across the attacking midfield positions while at Schalke and Wolfsburg, so it might take him some time to become comfortable playing upfront but the youngster certainly has all the attributes needed to convert into a striker if that really is Wenger’s plan.
Arsenal are desperately trying to strengthen their forward options after missing out on Jamie Vardy and it looks like Draxler is now emerging as a likely target, but only time will tell whether they are able to get a deal over the line.