Julian Draxler has been the driving force behind Schalke’s second half recovery this season, and he pledged his loyalty to the club with a contract extension through the year 2018. Draxler was set to be at the club through 2016.
Schalke extend Julian Draxler to 2018 with a €45m buyout, give him the number 10 shirt
Julian Draxler signed a long-term contract extension with Schalke. The club rewarded his loyalty by giving him the number 10 shirt, vacated by Lewis Holtby.
Alex Grimm
Draxler, 19, confirmed that he was receiving interest from Borussia Dortmund, but the midfielder had previously stated that he would never join Schalke’s Ruhr rivals. Schalke made sure that if they were to lose Draxler in the future, they would be handsomely rewarded for it. The new buy out clause in Draxler’s contract is €45 million.
“Schalke is a matter of the heart for me,” Draxler said. “The team and the club are on an excellent track and I’d like to continue on this journey, so I didn’t need much time to think it over.”
The midfielder was given the number 10 shirt that he will wear beginning next season. That number has been vacated since Lewis Holtby departed for Tottenham Hotspur in January. Draxler is the perfect player in the side to wear that prestigious number. Sporting Director Horst Heldt stated that this was one of Draxler’s request in signing the extension.
Having joined Schalke’s youth sides back in 2001, Draxler made his first team debut in January 2011 and has set several records since that day. They include many “the youngest...” records including: youngest Schalke player ever in the Bundesliga, youngest Schalke player to win the DFB Pokal, youngest player to score in the DFB Pokal final, youngest player to 50/100 appearances, and the youngest German player to score in the Champions League.
If you take something away from this, it should be this: Julian Draxler is very good, and he’ll be at Schalke for the foreseeable future.
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