Arsenal Offer £20m+ Player For German Attacker – Will Chelsea Now Make A Move?

With the January transfer window in full flow clubs are working hard to try and strengthen their squad for the second half of the season, so we’ll keep you up-to-date with all the latest news, gossip and rumours. Today, Arsenal have made their move for Julian Draxler.

Arsenal have made their move for Julian Draxler after tabling a £20m plus Lukas Podolski offer to Schalke for the sought-after German international, according to reports today.

Draxler has been in excellent form for Schalke this season and speculation has linked him with a move to the Premier League with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all understood to be interested.

But it’s the north Londoners who are reportedly showing the strongest interest in luring the attacker to England this month following the news that Theo Walcott will miss the rest of the season through injury, and it appears they’ve made their move for the player.

The Sun are reporting this morning that the Gunners have now offered Schalke £20m plus Lukas Podolski for the 20-year-old. However, it’s understood the bid has been turned down with the Bundesliga outfit demanding the full £37m that it would take to trigger the players release clause.

It’s a shrewd offer from Wenger as Draxler would most likely take Podolski’s place in the Arsenal team, so the Frenchman has tried to not only reduce the financial outlay but also shift a player who’s going to drop down the pecking order.

Podolski has been hit and miss since his £11m move from FC Koln in the summer of 2012. His goal and assist ratio is excellent having netted 19 goals and provided 11 assists in just 35 appearances, but his all-round play has been a little disappointing, while he’s also been hampered by a serious hamstring injury that’s seen him miss the majority of this season.

If the Sun’s report is accurate, then Wenger clearly sees the 28-year-old as dispensable but it looks like Schalke aren’t interested in taking him in part-exchange for Draxler, so the Gunners are going to have to up the ante if they want to get their hands on the highly-rated attacking midfielder.

There is also the possibility that Chelsea could now make their interest official and enter the bidding, especially if Juan Mata’s proposed move to United goes through. If the Spaniard leaves for Old Trafford then Jose Mourinho may see Draxler as the ideal replacement and use the £40m he will get from Mata’s sale to trigger the German’s buy-out clause.

The only worry for Draxler would be whether he’d get enough playing time at Stamford Bridge as he wouldn’t want to jeopardise his place in the Germany squad ahead of the 2014 World Cup.

With just over nine days remaining until the end of the month, things look like they are hotting up in the transfer market and it will be interesting to see if either Arsenal or Chelsea can land Draxler before the window slams shut.

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