The old adage of there being no smoke without fire might not always apply to the football transfer business, but with arsenal having been continually linked with the German international star for years I think we can assume that Julian Draxler has at least been watched carefully by Arsene Wenger.
So with the 23-year old’s current spell at his new club Wolfsburg clearly not working out and the Bundesliga club clearly not seeing eye to eye with their player I was one of many Arsenal fans thinking that the up and coming January transfer window would be the one that finally sees Draxler become a Gunner.
Apparently not though, as the Daily Mail is reporting that the dynamic forward is instead set to sign for the French champions PSG, as long as the two clubs can agree on the transfer fee which is thought to be in the region of £34 million.
That is really not a lot in this day and age and I reckon that Draxler would make a great addition to the Arsenal squad, so has Wenger missed yet another, and possibly his best, chance of getting the player we have been strongly linked with since he broke through as a teenage sensation with Schalke?
Bob.
Yes we have messed it up.
Is it a coincidence that we dont get the top talent since david dein left? NO
God how I’ve missed these transfer rumours. Lots of folks running around making up stories with no factual basis because they fit a certain narrative. Brexit. US election. At least Just Arsenal is in good company.
Drexler would have been a huge improvement to the team-
I like Iwobi, Walcott and the Ox – but let’s be honest Draxker is in different class
Probably have helped secure Ozil and Sanchez too
🙁
He is good, but will he run to chase down players when we don’t have the ball? A few weeks ago I said we need Payet as he can do a lot of things as well, but I’m also now wondering if he will chase the ball down as well.
The big teams have high energy levels when not in possession. Only Athletico Madrid and Juventus can afford to sit back because they have players who put body on the line when defending.
We’re far from being Europes best 8 teams, simply because we are not good enough off the ball and our quality in possession is going down. We need a fully fit squad with strongest 11 to be a match to the best teams, sometimes even then it isn’t good enough.
Draxler deal was probably only ever on the cards for that one window a few years ago, and then he got injured. Since then it’s just been shotty reporters and random websites linking him with us. This guys going to PSG, and I don’t think Arsenal have been serious about signing him for a while.
I like the sound of getting a Draxler. A German attacking player who gets his caps and is held in high regard, though has not made the top bracket just yet. I have to ask though is he really what we need. I don’t know enough about him to attest to his work rate, his defensive willingness to not get outdone. If we are to upgrade on our wingers, it cannot be just about more flair, better passing, because his numbers suggest that that’s primarily what will get upgraded. Alexis was the right way of going about it after so much soft soft wide play. We need him elsewhere now. So is Draxler a sore loser who takes it upon himself to win back possession, or has he got eyes for forward play alone. Adding another all about the forward play, to this team, would get us nowhere. We have to take into account our players who have not signed also. I’m not sure what to make of it, I do know that Reus is a better fit, and I’d be much happier with him.
I’ll give you 2 reasons why we didn’t win our last two matches.
1, Midfield players excepts Coquelin not hungry enough to chase and close down opponents and tackle them. Tackles are only made on the edge of our box an only then by COquelin or Xhaka and the defensive players.
2, When we do have the ball we are not passing the ball forwards or they aren’t incisive enough. Sanchez is our striker yet no one has created a chance for him in the last two games. On the other side he has created more clear cut chances than any other player in the team in the last two games. Ox,Iwobi, Ozil, Xhaka, Wallcott are to blame for this and point number 1. If these players are put under pressure they’ll give the ball away, you don’t even need to tackle them.
There needs to be a big shake up in midfield. Wenger will probably select the same lineup and we end up winning 2-0 against WBA and he will think problems solved until we run into the same thing again against a half decent side.
Put Sanchez in AMF for a game and see how things work out. He likes to drop deep in from CF anyway so why not play him behind another striker? Add Perez in the starting 11 as striker or winger for a few games and/or bring in Gibbs in LW. Iwobi is just clueless when defending.
Basically there is many things that can be done to atleast find a solution but Will he do it? I doubt it.
TBH It is hard to see Arsenal spend any money this transfer window after the massive amount we spend this summer.
I don’t even think we need anyone. Sure we could have used a striker last summer but Sanchez is doing an amazing job in this position which he will hold down till this summer when he is likely to leave.
If, and this is a big IF, we had the financial power then buying Draxler would be a massive coup in many ways. (1) His valuation is low, after his impressive European tournament he could have gone for a lot more than the price of Xhaka. (2) It would show an unprecedented signal of ambition in the direction of Sanchez and Ozil (3) it would add a potential world-class player in the making (like RVP?) (4) If we manage to sign Ozil or Sanchez to a new contract it will be to tune of far more than 200 per week, raising the the cost of any player to follow, therefore signing him now would have been less expensive than signing him later. (5) sign Draxler now and we would not need a massive net new spend next summer. (6) it would soften the blow of losing one or both of Ozil and Sanchez whilst not being held ransom by the seller because they knew we had just lost Sanchez/Ozil and had lots of cash and were desperate.
In my opinion Theo, Ox, Iwobi, Lucas, Campbell are all good players but by this summer we need at least one upgrade which may mean losing one or more of our good players
In order to compete with the other teams we need another WC player up front of the quality of Alexis/Ozil or nearly WC
If we don’t we always be a Top 4 team and not a real Title contender.
We also need to strengthen defensively
GK we are fine
LB we are fine
RB we need a backup to Bellerin
CB we need another good quality defender as I am not sure about Gabs and Chambs. Also Mert and Kos are in 30s
DM we need backup for Coquelin. I’m not convinced by Eleney
Personally, I would make these major changes
1. Sell Ramsey, Eleney, Debuchy (because he does not want to be hete), Sanogo
2. Bring back Wilshere
3. Sign either a CB who can also play RB
4. Sign a backup DM
5. Sign a Top forward
6. Send Jenkinson, Akpom, Chambs, Campbell on loan for more experience
Did u just say we are fine at LB? Anyways, I’m kinda torn between Draxler and Reus, Draxler has still not shown consistency so far in his career and what happens when Madrid or Barca want him in future given his antics at Wolfsburg? Reus is far more consistent but I fear his injury record though but still wouldn’t write him off just yet, good thing is they are both available at good prices.