Chelsea may have a willing seller in PSG, should bid for Julian Draxler
By George Perry
After selling Blaise Matuidi for £18 million, Paris Saint-Germain are 10% of the way to balancing the books from Neymar’s transfer. Chelsea should offer to help them with a bid for Julian Draxler.
PSG revealed their desperation, cluelessness or perhaps some back-room dealing by letting Blaise Matuidi go for the outright steal of £18 million. While Chelsea try to talk Leicester City down from the insanity of £40 million for Danny Drinkwater, the Blues should make that their starting bid for Julian Draxler.
Draxler has already been linked to Barcelona and Arsenal, the latter of whom thinks he could be packaged into a swap with Alexis Sanchez. PSG put a £60 million tag on Draxler, which in itself is notable given that they signed him only in January. If PSG did that to ward off suitors instead of flatly saying he was not on the market, they may find a £60 million valuation is no longer the repellant it once was.
PSG obviously bought him as part of their ambitious plan for the future, hence the hefty markup. But a club that needs to pay down a £198 million purchase is more likely to accept £50 million, which would still be nearly a 50% profit.
At 23 years old, Draxler is the perfect age to complete Chelsea’s roster of wingers. Pedro is 30 and Willian is 29, both starting to wind down their prime years. Eden Hazard is 26, in the early years of his prime. Jeremie Boga is only 20, and would likely be on loan right now if not for Hazard’s and Pedro’s injuries and Willian’s inconsistency.
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With over 200 senior-level appearances in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, he has the precise combination of age and experience that Chelsea apparently value in a potential starter. He could make an instant contribution to the starting XI, challenging both Willian and Pedro for their places. He would also connect their era to Boga’s, allowing Boga the appropriate time to develop either at Chelsea or elsewhere.
Draxler and Hazard would nominally line up on either side of the striker, but would freely swap sides throughout the game. Chelsea does this now, but Draxler would reduce the difference in quality and threat between the Hazard and non-Hazard sides of the pitch. Opponents would not be able to shift defenders to cover Hazard because that would leave a nearly-as-dangerous Draxler exposed on the other side.
A winger is not high on Chelsea’s transfer priorities this summer. The Blues need more immediate help at central midfield and wing-back. However, their freak run of injuries has shattered their depth at winger. And they are a only a few years away – perhaps less – from needing to replace Willian and Pedro. Chelsea could do something wildly uncharacteristic by buying Julian Draxler: a proactive transfer before reaching a crisis point.
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Paris Saint-Germain are realizing that £198 million players do not come cheaply. Whether they are waking up to their budget or Financial Fair Play, PSG are now in “sell” mode. With Chelsea thoroughly and equally desperately in “buy” mode, these two could do solid business over Julian Draxler.