We do love going for Paris Saint-Germain’s players, don’t we? After Serge Aurier joined in the summer of 2017, fellow Parisien Lucas Moura followed him to north London just six months later. Whilst the Ivorian hasn’t quite worked out as planned as of yet, our Brazilian winger has taken English football by storm.
The pair had been side-lined in France and relished the possibility of reigniting their careers elsewhere, and having given them the opportunity to do so, we’ve reaped the rewards. So perhaps, we could do the same for another star from across the channel, in Germany international Julian Draxler.
The midfielder started 22 of his 32 league games last season, and fared reasonably well, scoring three goals and laying off eight assists. But, despite his performances under fellow German Thomas Tuchel, Draxler is seemingly surplus to requirements at Les Parc des Princes.
According to the Daily Mirror, the 25-year-old is one of several players PSG are looking to offload this summer in order to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations, and is now being linked with a move to North London. What could be the French side’s loss, could be our gain again.
With Christian Eriksen admitting his willingness to try out a new challenge, we will surely be in the market for a suitable replacement. And we could do far worse than making a move for Draxler. He’s at the perfect age in his career for him to fully hit his peak in the next couple of seasons under Mauricio Pochettino’s guidance, and his versatility of being able to operate as both a number ten and out wide are vital traits the Argentine would love.
Valued at £35million by Transfermarkt, Draxler would no doubt embrace the chance to prove PSG wrong, just like Lucas has done. With 49-caps for a Germany side loaded with attacking talent, Draxler has proven he can be a major figure in a very competitive team, and would offer us a ready-made solution to Eriksen’s departure.
Playing under the spotlight in the French capital will only have served him with some valuable learning experiences, if nothing more, and the ability to handle the pressure – if we’re going to mount a Premier League and Champions League title challenge next season – could be an important part in that.
He may not have the same aura around him as he did when he broke onto the scene at Schalke back in 2011, but he still has all that technical quality within him, it just needs to be coaxed out of him like the rest of us.
The ones who tend to do well, are those who appear to have a chip on their shoulder. And having been treated as ‘just another’ player at PSG, Draxler could embrace the idea of having a point to prove.