Arsenal: Julian Draxler Piling On The Early Pain

Julian Draxler signed for Paris Saint-Germain amid speculation linking him with a move to Arsenal. He piled on the pain, scoring in his debut.

The hopes and dreams of a fanbase often begin and end with the sensationally overpriced and overadvertised, but equally exciting and tantalising, stars across Europe coming and inhabiting their own, precious club. Arsenal fans enjoyed such euphoria when Mesut Ozil came to town in 2013 and since then, they have had many alluring, mouthwatering prospects slip through their fingers.

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Fantasies arose with names like Gonzalo Higuain, Mario Gotze and even Karim Benzema. Such fantasies quickly crashed to earth, though. The realisation that Arsene Wenger would never be willing to overspend was always a niggling doubt when conjuring up such ideal acquisitions.

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As such, players have moved and Arsenal have rarely been involved. Higuain left Real Madrid for Napoli before securing a blockbuster move to Juventus in the summer, Gotze graduated from boyhood club Borussia Dortmund, signing for fellow German giants Bayern Munich and then subsequently returning to Dortmund and Benzema has been at the centre of a controversial media frenzy, in and out the first team for a number of years and played through numerous rumours linking him with a move away.

The next player on a long assembly line of missed stars is Julian Draxler. First making his name at Schalke, Draxler has been touted as a star for many years. He signed with Wolfsburg thereafter but fell out of love with the manager and the club after he was denied a move in the summer, with Arsenal one of the likely targets.

After being dropped throughout the first half of the season, with his form tailing off amid serious rumours of unhappiness, Draxler confirmed that he would leave the German club in the January transfer window. The chance for Arsenal to strike was ripe.

And yet, it was Paris Saint-Germain who snook in first. Draxler moved to the French champions and has impressed early on, scoring a lovely, dinked effort in his debut. It is clearly wholly naive and uninformed to conclude that Draxler is a good signing because he scored in his first appearance. Remember Marouane Chamakh?

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However, it is an indication that, as like many missed opportunities before him, Draxler is yet another star falling from the Arsenal sky, trailblazing a debris of dashed hopes and dreams. Or at least that’s how melodramatic fan would put it…