Per Mertesacker had added to the growing speculation surrounding Julian Draxler by welcoming him to Arsenal, should he join the club.

The big German was talking to SPOX.com about the Schalke man and joked about Arsenal’s mini German academy at north London.

He added that he would be happy to see Draxler move to the Emirates and add to the already fun atmosphere.

Mertesacker said: “We have already a small German Academy here and that makes it incredibly fun.

“Julian has made a big impact at Schalke and the national team, even at such a young age, and such players are always welcome.”

He said the talk linking the youngster with Arsenal is nice but is also very common this time over year, adding: “You always hear so much.

“It’s often a case of players being offered to other clubs.”

Now we wait to see if Mertesacker’s comments can help Draxler move to north London and add towards our title charge.

Remember the German has already told the 20-year-old all about Arsenal and revealed all the nice things about the club.

Draxler said back in November: “I have always said English teams are very big clubs and Arsenal is of course one of them.

“I sometimes speak to Mesut or Per about the team and they always have good words and they tell me nice things.

“Arsenal is a very, very nice team. They always have very young players, they play attractive football and that’s what I like.”

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