Liverpool have reportedly suffered a huge blow in their pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain star Julian Draxler as the Ligue1 club has straightaway refused any possibilities of the German playmaker leaving France anytime soon. However, the Reds are running out of options with time against them and if they fail to hold onto Phillipe Coutinho they could be in for a difficult season.
The Reds have brought in Mohamed Salah, Dominic Solanke and Andrew Robertson this summer so far, but fans have expressed their disappointment in Jurgen Klopp’s inability to fill the rest of the gaps that had cost them the season last term. Coutinho’s possible sale was definitely not a part of their summer plans and the fans would be fuming if that happens now.
Liverpool are yet to strengthen their defence and Klopp is still stuck boosting his attack. However, Draxler isn’t a likely arrival at Anfield although the £198m arrival of Neymar did cast doubt over his place in the lineup. The German forward had joined PSG in January itself in a £35.5 million deal from Wolfsburg and manager Unai Emery isn’t leaving him anytime soon.
The Reds look completely out of the deal here although there could be a late push by offering Mamadou Sakho as a part of the deal. The French centre-half was an academy product of the French club and knows the league quite well. Jurgen Klopp doesn’t see him in his plans for sure but they don’t want any other Premier League side to have him either. The centre half is out with an injury at the moment but will be back soon and can give good competition to Marquinhos and Thiago Silva in PSG’s defence.
Following their disappointing season last term, PSG have been quite aggressive in changing the squad although little has happened so far. Apart from central midfielder Blaise Matuidi leaving for Juventus, PSG are yet to dispose of anyone. Although PSG are pushing for AS Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe, which might see some attackers leave, Draxler is definitely not for sale even then.
And Draxler’s agent Julian Wittman has personally clarified it following recent speculations of the German star leaving the club. He said, “We are not interested in whether L’Equipe wrote something. There has been no change, it is not a topic. If somebody writes ‘I have this information from Nasser Al-Khelaifi [PSG chairman and CEO],’ then I will consider it and call the president to speak about Julian’s situation.”
Draxler’s absence from PSG’s opening few games also added fuel to the fire. However, Emery had allowed the player to return late to the club after their pre-season games and had been left out of his squad for the moment as he continues to get back to full fitness.
However, it would be a lie to say that PSG misses Draxler’s services. His position is filled with numerous stars at the club like Lucas Moura, Edinson Cavani, Angel Di Maria, Goncalo Guedes, Hatem Ben Arfa, Javier Pastore and Giovani Lo Celso.
