Julian Draxler was holding out for Barcelona move instead of Arsenal

SEP 07, 2017

Julian Draxler has privately told his Germany teammates that he wanted to join Barcelona this summer, according to reports in Spain.

The 23-year-old was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal on deadline day, with reports claiming that Arsene Wenger’s side had asked Paris Saint-Germain to keep them informed about the midfielder’s availability.

But Mundo Deportivo claims that Draxler was secretly holding out for a move to Barcelona, believing the Spanish club would come in for him after their attempts to sign Philippe Coutinho and Angel Di Maria failed.

The report also claims that Draxler’s agent, Roger Wittmann, travelled to Spain on two separate occasions this summer to offer the Germany international to Barcelona.

Draxler ended up remaining with PSG and despite the arrivals of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, the midfielder is confident that he will get regular playing time this season.

‘I am greatly looking forward to playing with [Neymar and Mbappe] but, if players are bought for €222 million or €180m, they have an advantage on paper,’ Draxler told RTL.

‘But I am confident – that’s why I didn’t think about leaving Paris.