Nothing but your Arsenal (kind of) Julian Draxler – Now, or in the summer?

Julian Draxler. Labelled as a star of the future in Germany and has shown glimpses of his fantastic talents for a while now, but who is he?

Born in 1993, Gladbeck, Germany, the 20 year old midfielder can play in the hole behind the striker, or, as his team FC Schalke like to play him, a left winger. The contract he is currently on will run into the summer of the year 2018 having signed a 2 year contract extension with Schalke on May 10th, 2013. At the time, he was linked with a move to Borrusia Dortmund and speculation of a move away from his club swiftly ended.

Now, less than a year on from his contract extension, he is again linked with a move away from Veltins-Arena, but this time, to Arsenal. With a release clause in his contract of around £37million, he wont be a cheap purchase for any club that isn’t drowning in their own money, mentioning no names…

Schalke aren’t having the best of seasons so far, lying in a seemingly underachieving 7th place in the Bundesliga, 16 points off of top spot, currently being occupied by Bayern Munchen (who else?!) and 5 points away from 3rd spot, which is currently being occupied by Borussia Mönchengladbach!

With a total playing time so far this season for Draxler of 1192 minutes and only 1 goal in 25 shots to show for it, as well as 4 assists, Draxler is seen as an integral part of the way Schalke play their football, and letting him leave the club would surely dent their hopes of finishing in a respectable place in the leauge.

So why would a team like Arsenal, with their current abundance of talent in the midfield, be looking to add yet another young, very promising youngster to their ranks? well, some newspaper articles have suggested that Arsene Wenger wants to transfer him into a striker or a CF, meaning we’d be paying his £37million fee release clause for a player that can play in two positions: the left wing, and a striker.

Well, that’s where Podolski comes into it! Rumours have it that Arsenal are prepared to part with a figure believed to be around £20million plus Podolski for the 20-year-old German midfielder, but something about that offer doesn’t sit right with myself and Arsenal fans alike. Podolski is a fan favourite, a game killer and a huge influence on the team, whether that’s on or off the pitch. His personality seems to shine through at every opportunity given, and even when he isn’t playing and just sat on the bench, he has a way of making himself and everyone around him laugh, laugh, laugh and laugh some more.

It wasn’t that long ago that Podolski was parading around London, camera in hand and taking picture of all the places he was at, as well as him just sat in a taxi! He loves London life. He loves the culture, the people, the football club, our players, and last but not least, the fans! One (very funny) example of him being a fan favourite is when he was doing a Q&A on Twitter with his followers, somebody asked him the following question, and his response went down a storm with Arsenal fans! As well as a simple Twitter search for ‘Podolski love’ you’ll see that Arsenal fans adore him.

But the odd thing is, that when Podolski is fit, he doesn’t seem to start many, if any games at Arsenal, and is mostly used as an impact sub to kill of a game or bring new life into the game, most recently an example of this would be against Fulham, where he came on off the bench and injected pace, enthusiasm and energy, just what was needed at the time.

In my opinion, a striker is needed more than an attacking midfielder, such as Draxler, and I would hope Wenger sees it that way too. Jackson Martinez is reportedly signing a new contract at Porto within a week, and if I’m honest, I have to say I’m gutted about that, I would love Jackson Martinez at Arsenal, he’s an exceptional talent. Diego Costa is another name that has been passed around here, there and everywhere, but there seems to be no solid evidence of Arsenal firmly being in for any of these two. Another option up front would be Alvaro Morata, a young Spanish striker that has been warming up the Real Madrid bench more often than not in recent weeks. Even if Morata would arrive at Arsenal, it would only be a loan deal, but that’s OK. A loan striker and Draxler coming into the club this month would be massive business for Arsenal, meaning and inevitable summer signing of a high profile striker, surely?

But Arsene, whatever you do, don’t let Podolski leave Arsenal, I beg of you!

Written by our new writer Avalon @AvalonAFC

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