Fear for me in Wenger splashing big on Draxler is that he will cheapskate it on the striker front. Can't for the life of me see us going close to 40m three times in the space of a year.

Gotze and Hazard outscore him handily, although Hazard has had a longer professional career. They are just better players, but Draxler can get to that level eventually.

Goetze is so good. Been a bit stop-start for him at Bayern this season but he's still well on his way to around 15 goals this season.

@honigstein's translated tweet:

"Schalke seem like they're practicallly begging for an offer for Draxler. #debt"

Wenger likes this.

Schalke in debt?

Weren't they supposed to be one of the richest clubs in Germany?

Rex wrote:

Fear for me in Wenger splashing big on Draxler is that he will cheapskate it on the striker front. Can't for the life of me see us going close to 40m three times in the space of a year.

Can't see us paying 40m again anytime soon, for Draxler or anyone else. I think Wenger will try to find a striker in 10-25 million range in the Summer.

@honigstein

I'm just not sure AW will go for him again, at this slightly crazy prize. he pushed hard, once, for a lot less money - before Özil.

Think their debt situation is fine unless they miss the champs league.

Going to be really hard for them to make it. Gladbach are pretty good and have a far better manager than Schalke. Wolfsburg have invested quite a bit in their squad and have Diego who is brilliant and they just added De Bruyne who knows the league. Hertha will fade away.

Captain wrote:

Gotze and Hazard outscore him handily, although Hazard has had a longer professional career. They are just better players, but Draxler can get to that level eventually.

Cool, do you reckon say in 7 years time he'll be at their level or do they simply have a higher ceiling?

From what Honigstein is saying there was interest but not at the £37.5mill level which seems sensible

Just my opinion but I can't see Draxler ever being close to as good as Goetze. Maybe he can reach Hazard's level but I have difficulty seeing that too. Januzaj looks like the biggest U20 talent around to me.

Edit: Actually, Pogba best U20 player. SAF 😆

JazzG wrote:
Captain wrote:

Gotze and Hazard outscore him handily, although Hazard has had a longer professional career. They are just better players, but Draxler can get to that level eventually.

Cool, do you reckon say in 7 years time he'll be at their level or do they simply have a higher ceiling?

From what Honigstein is saying there was interest but not at the £37.5mill level which seems sensible

Two seasons at Arsenal will do it, in my opinion.

Could be come in and score 15-20 goals from next season?

Probably not next season. But when he's as old as Hazard is he might.

Volante - you think Gotze is that far ahead of Hazard?

These days I don't see a whole lot separating the two but that may also be down to Gotze's recent injuries/playing time.

Volante wrote:

Just my opinion but I can't see Draxler ever being close to as good as Goetze. Maybe he can reach Hazard's level but I have difficulty seeing that too. Januzaj looks like the biggest U20 talent around to me.

Edit: Actually, Pogba best U20 player. SAF 😆

Dan Crowley

MistaT wrote:

Volante - you think Gotze is that far ahead of Hazard?

These days I don't see a whole lot separating the two but that may also be down to Gotze's recent injuries/playing time.

A few years ago I was adamant that Hazard was better. I was borderline obsessed with him, really thought we'd get him. Maybe it's down to preference but now I think Goetze looks an all around better player. Looks nearly as big a goal threat and all the other skills are in Goetze's favor.

What do you mean by borderline obsessed? Would you lie awake at night thinking about him?

Some Draxler heads on Newsnow if anyone cares.

If it is it won't be announced before 23:45 on january 31st.

He obviously wouldn't solve all our problems, but is it possible he could have a Reyes-like impact on our season? Just add that extra bit of freshness and flair to the squad.

The release clause only becomes active in the summer according to Bild, by the way.

Not that John Cross knows any more than we do 🙂 but he claims we're going for him in January even though we're more likely to get him in the summer.

If we want him (and we do) then it's purely down to Schalke. Doesn't really matter what we do right now.

we definitely should go for him right now. walcott's injury freed up a spot and i imagine draxler will take a while to adapt so the sooner the better.

Good call on Pires, est. Thought about this myself yesterday.

He is better and worth more in the long run than all others who are being mentioned - Giovinco, El Sharaawy, Griezmann etc. Draxler 6'2 - get the fuck in. Comfortable on the ball (unlike Podolski, or Theo) - check. Can hit it with both feet - check. He is tailor made for our football. Not like some weak midget from Italy. He will be a monster.

If Draxler joins it's curtains for one of Gnabry or Ox, and I for one don't think it's worth it. Just splash the money on a bloody striker.

If we're signing Draxler for a shed load of money then it's because Wenger thinks he can be converted to centre forward imo. I know some people don't see him in that position, but that's the only way it makes sense I think.

Jed wrote:

If Draxler joins it's curtains for one of Gnabry or Ox, and I for one don't think it's worth it. Just splash the money on a bloody striker.

So what ? Neither are better than Draxler , please tell me which striker we can get in January because I'm very interested.

The only problem I have with the Draxler as a striker argument is that we're essentially splashing 40 million on a squad player. I just can't see how a 20 year old midfielder who has never played up front before would be a serious solution to our striker problem. He'll need time and work to adapt to a new position, and meanwhile the squad will continue to look alarmingly thin. When we brought in van Persie we had Henry and Bergkamp in the team and could afford to stick him in the reserves for a year. This time we have Giroud and Bendtner.

  • Reyes and the fact that the snake was a £3m steal, not a £40m investment.

The way this rumour's being reported makes me wonder if we'll actually sign the player. Unless somehow it happens this January. Telegraphing it too far out, reminds me of Hazard or Gotze.

Yeah I honestly don't see how we're going to spend 35-40 mil on a midfielder/striker project. We can spend that on a top class forward easily and solve a big problem that we have. We have a few good young midfield stars in the making anyway.

The striker thing is a complete fiction though, if it happens then its gonna take time. He would come as LW and probably not even be a starter over Cazorla this season. That would allow Wenger to use Podolski as ST backup aswell. All well and good.

Also, Ox AND Gnabry will both be fine. Ox is gonna spend next year or two rotating between spots at LW/CAM/RW (mainly) or even at CM if needed and Gnabry is 18 years old with no claims to regular game time at all for the next 2 years. Getting Draxler in would allow us to start phasing out Cazorla and Podolski once the time comes for them to go. Meanwhile Ox and Gnabry get ready to step in.

Great teams are full of high profile bench players. Draxler can easily come in now and spend his first 6 months adapting to the team and league while offering a quality option off the bench despite his £37m price.