Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers flew to Germany last night to watch Gunners target Julian Draxler star for Schalke in the Champions League.
Draxler put in a man of the match performance capped off with a goal as Schalke dumped Basel out of the Champions League and progressed themselves after only needing a draw, with Rodgers picking a perfect night to view the 20-year-old.
Draxler has been a long term target for Arsenal as well as Chelsea, and now Liverpool have shown an interest as Real Madrid supposedly preparing to bring in Luis Suarez next year.
Interest
Although Arsenal’s German contingent of Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski, Serge Gnabry and star man Mesut Ozil has put them at the front of the queue to pick up Draxler, Jose Mourinho is said to be desperate for him to join the Chelsea ranks.
A deal involving Kevin Du Bruyne moving in the opposite direction has been rumoured as the Belgian fails to make an impact at Stamford Bridge.
Yet it is Arsene Wenger’s consistent linking with the player which makes Arsenal his most likely destination, with the pull-factors of Top 4 English football and successful Champions League adventures appealing.
With Rodgers’ Liverpool failing to qualify for the Champions League for a number of years now, many would question why the promising star would move to Anfield with his current club progressing in Europe’s largest competition.
With 10 international caps with 3 goals under his belt, Draxler is a firm favourite to be on Joachim Loew’s plane to Brazil in 2014, and even appeared for the Germans at Wembley against England back in November.
Wantaway?
Draxler operates in the number 10 role, the one occupied by a number of players here at Arsenal already, with Ozil and Cazorla operating in the space behind the striker most prominently. However the youngster has been shifted out to the left-wing this season due to the form of even younger German Max Meyer.
Meyer has broken through in the number 10 role, leaving Draxler unsettled:
"I have now resigned myself to the fact that I am not welcome in the number 10 position here at Schalke," he told German magazine Kicker.
"I am still convinced to be as dangerous just outside the centre. Even though I perhaps am the only one who thinks this."
And despite signing a new 6-year contract in the summer, which included a £45million buyout clause, Draxler has already flirted with English clubs, namely the Gunners:
"I have always said English teams are very big clubs and Arsenal is of course one of them,” he claimed, after appearing at Wembley.
"Of course I sometimes speak to Mesut or Per about the team, about the club, and they always have good words and they tell me nice things.
“I have said every summer I have to look what is the best for me and I will do in the summer again and we will see what happens.
"You never know what happens in the summer, but Arsenal is a very, very nice team.”
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