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Chelsea Battle Arsenal For £25m German Midfielder

By on October 3, 2013

It seems we’ll have to fend off competition from Chelsea if we want to sign highly-rated German attacker Julian Draxler.

We were strongly linked with the 20-year-old in the summer with newspapers reporting that we made several enquiries over his availability.

Schalke were determined to hang on to him for at least another season though, and ended up persuading Draxler to sign a new five-year contract. While that saw him commit his future to the club, it also ensured the Bundesliga outfit would be adequately compensated when they decide to sell.

According to reports, Arsene Wenger remains interested despite the signing of Mesut Ozil but we’ll have to see-off competition from Chelsea, who have apparently also entered the chase and are ready to go head-to-head with us when the window re-opens in January.

I personally don’t think there is any chance Schalke will sell mid-season, especially if they are still in the Champions League, and with them currently sitting top of Group E with maximum points, it looks as though they’ll safely progress to the knockout stages leaving the sale of Draxler in January highly unlikely.

However, the youngster has previously admitted he’s interested in moving abroad so there might be a chance in the summer and he would certainly be an excellent signing. The Daily Star seem to think Schalke would want around £25m, but I can see him going for more than that.

He’s already a full German international and scored 13 goals in 39 games last season – all at the age of just 20 – and with prices the way they are at present, I think he’ll go for over £30m.

Whether he ends up moving to the Emirates remains to be seen but I’d love to see him playing alongside his compatriot Mesut Ozil, although if we’re going to spend £25m-plus any time soon I think it’s wise we invest in a striker first!

Do you rate Draxler? Would you like to see him join Arsenal?