Arsenal: Julian Dralxer saga just won’t die

Arsenal are again being linked with a January move for Julian Draxler, who is seen as a replacement for Alexis Sanchez. The long-running saga, though, will never end happily.

Arsene Wenger is a notoriously hesitant manager, especially when it comes to the transfer window. While his competitors are more than happy to splash the cash, acting swiftly in conducting their business, certain in their convictions and unwavering in their pursuit of those players they believe improve their squad, Wenger is willing to sit back and wait for what comes to him, even though it has come to the detriment of Arsenal on several occasions beforehand.

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There are numerous examples of where Wenger’s ambivalence and apathy, mistook for patience, have seen potential acquisitions pass the Gunners by. It is seemingly an annual ritual where Wenger details of the players that he could have bought in the most recent window.

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And throughout his twisted and somewhat confusing tenure, there have been many transfer sagas that have lingered on, with players relentlessly linked with a move to North London, irrespective of their interest in a possible switch and Wenger’s desire to make a sufficiently sizable offer. Mario Gotze, Karim Benzema, Edinson Cavani, Yoann Gourcuff. The names roll off the tongue like burnt toast; not an especially pleasurable taste.

There is now another name to add to that ever-growing list: Julian Draxler. When the talented German was at Schalke, all those years ago, there were musings that Wenger would like to make him an Arsenal player. He, instead, chose to stay in Germany, making the switch to Wolfsburg.

However, after falling out with head coach Dieter Hecking, it was clear that his future did not lie with Die Wolfe. This was perhaps the point in time where Draxler was most intensely linked with a North London transfer. The 2016 summer through until he secured his future with Paris-Saint Germain in January 2017.

But a move never came. Draxler began to settle in Paris, blossoming early on alongside Angel di Maria and Edinson Cavani, and it was thought that Arsenal would never be a part of his future. Nonetheless, the transfer gods seem to have had their way once again.

PSG, in signing Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, have consigned Draxler to a role on the bench. That is something that has irked the German and he is reported to wanting to leave. And you guess who is being touted as a possible destination! Yes, that’s right. Arsenal.

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I’ll be honest, if Draxler was going to sign for the Gunners, he would have done so by now. While I would love for him to come to the Premier League and feature at the Emirates, it simply isn’t going to happen. This saga is simply not going to end. God help us all.