Despite Schalke’s general manager Horst Heldt dismissing a move, Julian Draxler has recently revealed he would welcome a move to the Premier League and also expressed his admiration for fellow German Mesut Ozil.
The 20-year-old creative midfielder was linked with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United over the summer but instead signed a two-year contract extension with Schalke until 2018.
But the German international, who has a buy-out clause in his existing deal (thought to be around the £40 million mark), has not ruled out a move away from Schalke to join Ozil in England.
Draxler told German publication Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger:
‘I owe Schalke a lot, I have always been at Schalke. I need to emphasise this. But I ‘m not so rooted here that I could not tear myself away.
‘I can honestly say that it is my dream to play for one of the big clubs at some point.
‘You don’t have to be playing for the very top club’s in Europe to draw attention to yourself, but if you want to achieve the great goals that the world-class players have, then one of them is playing at the biggest clubs in the world.’
He was then asked which clubs would be of interest to him. Draxler replied:
‘The big two in Spain, Real and Barcelona, Bayern and a few others from England, namely Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea.’
Draxler then spoke of his idol Ozil, who left Werder Bremen in 2010 to join Real Madrid and is now rated as one of the best players in the world:
‘I’ve always said I’m a big fan of Mesut Ozil, who ventured abroad and developed at Real Madrid into a world-class player.
‘Just to be a team-mate of his [with the German national team] makes me quite proud.’
If Arsenal are looking to recruit Draxler in January or even next summer then it seems we are favourites to land him due to the Ozil attraction.
warm welcome German star