Rumour Mongering: The Race For Julian Draxler Heats Up

Julian Draxler is an incredible footballer. He made a name for himself at Wolfsburg before completing a huge move to Paris-Saint Germain earlier this year. He’s also a World Cup champions and captained Germany during the Confederations Cup this summer (which, of course, they won). Things seem to be on the up and up for the 23-year-old winger.

And then PSG bought Neymar. And are apparently close to nabbing Kylian Mbappe. All of a sudden Draxler’s position in Paris is less certain.

We mentioned all this earlier in the week when grumblings began to be heard that PSG were shopping Draxler around to top Premier League teams. At the time Liverpool and Arsenal were at least passive contenders, should Draxler indeed be available.

Now comes word that PSG has gotten much more serious about selling Draxler, and both Liverpool and Arsenal have gotten much more serious about buying.

On top of that, a new contender has entered the sweepstakes— Manchester United. José Mourinho has indicated that he wants one more big signing before the window closes. But, this being Mou, it’s also entirely possible that he just wants to make sure two of his biggest rivals don’t get Draxler, and that the young winger wouldn’t actually figure in his plans. This wouldn’t be the first time he’s pulled this specific stunt.

The Mirror suggests that PSG would be willing to sell Draxler for as little as £32 million. That’s only a step or two above Fire Sale pricing. It’s possible that PSG know something about the player that no one else does, but more than likely they know they’re going to take a loss on Draxler one way or the other and are now just trying to mitigate damage. Get him off the books and save the manager a host of selection headaches and dressing room drama.

As always— take several grains of salt. But if this pans out, it could give Liverpool another powerful option out wide. And, potentially, fill in the gap that Coutinho would leave should Barcelona get their way.

Watch this space.