Paris Saint-Germain has strengthened their squad ahead of the UEFA Champions League knockout stages and a push for the Ligue 1 title. The Parisians have signed German international attacker Julian Draxler from Wolfsburg, beating out competition from Arsenal and Liverpool, according to Bild.
Julian Draxler moves to Paris Saint-Germain from Wolfsburg
The German international attacker gets a fresh start on a team in need of wide depth.
Photo by Deniz Calagan/Bongarts/Getty Images
For the privilege of signing Draxler, PSG paid €40 million, plus up to €8 million in bonuses. Draxler has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract.
Last season, Draxler’s first for Wolfsburg, was a breakthrough campaign. After stagnating during his last two years at Schalke, the 23-year-old Draxler was one of the star players of Wolfsburg’s UEFA Champions League campaign, recording three goals and two assists in that competition.
He also had five goals and five assists in the Bundesliga. But this year, with Wolfsburg struggling as a whole, Draxler has no goals and two assists. Wolfsburg was expected to compete for a European place this season but sits just three points above the relegation zone, even after two straight wins before the winter break.
This January is probably the perfect time to make a move for all three parties involved in this deal. Wolfsburg gets to cash in before Draxler’s value dips from an entire poor season, Draxler gets to leave a relegation battler for a title contender, and PSG gets to sign a talented player at a price slightly below his peak value, but before he’s too discouraged from spending an entire year on an underperforming team.
PSG is in dire need of an attacking player after one of their marquee summer signings flopped badly. Jese Rodriguez has failed to make an impact in Paris since joining from Real Madrid and looks likely to head back to La Liga on loan in January.
Draxler can play as a central attacking midfielder, but he has mostly played on the wing for Wolfsburg, Schalke and Germany over the last three seasons. He has stiff competition for a starting role in Lucas Moura and Angel Di Maria. But he shouldn’t find it too tough to get some playing time due to PSG’s lack of depth in the position. Because of Jese’s struggles, the players rotating with the two starting wingers have been central players and career backups rather than top-quality wingers.
PSG currently sits third in Ligue 1, three points behind AS Monaco and five behind OGC Nice. They kick off their Champions League Round of 16 matchup against Barcelona on Feb. 14.
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