Mission
accomplished as a certain US president would say. We kept our nerves and stood
firm to defend the Champions League qualification spot which was an important
step to be prepared for the years to come.
That said this summer’s transfer
window seems to be in full swing with not having opened yet. But as the seasons
across Europe nearly all finished it’s time for our Doppelpass feature to look
at further Bundesliga targets and returnees.
A
lot people tweeted me about Julian Draxler so I decided to give you a quick
update on his situation. Draxler has been a target for many clubs in Europe
with Arsenal among the clubs on the list. For some time it seemed that Draxler
could be on his way out of Schalke 04 this summer, even to local rivals Borussia
Dortmund as a direct Mario Götze replacement.
As a Bundesliga insider everyone
should have known that such a transfer would have never happened for Schalke
born and raised Draxler. So it was no real surprise when the news of a contract
extension was made public two weeks ago. Draxler signed a new contract which
will keep him at Schalke until 2018. The big news though is that his new
contract shall include a buy-out clause around of around £35m. In case his
development for club and country does not stall, next summer will be a
difficult one for Schalke manager Horst Held. Regarding this year’s summer
transfer window Draxler is no deal to talk about as he will play for Schalke
next year.
Talking
of Schalke, Benedikt Höwedes has been mentioned as a possible Thomas Vermaelen
replacement in case the Belgian should leave the club this summer. To be honest
I’m not a big Höwedes fan. For me he has not the quality to make it in the
Premier League. He’s not first choice in the German national side and he lacks
some pace. Sure Per Mertesacker lacks pace as well but he can read the game; an
ability Höwedes does not have. But with Höwedes’ contract extension signed this
spring he won’t leave Schalke anyway. Another one to cross off the list.
With
many players set to attract notice in the upcoming weeks, let’s take a quick
look at Johan Djourou who has been on loan at Hannover since January. It’s
understood that Arsenal are looking to get rid of the deadwood and the Swiss
international is one of them. JD himself would love to make his loan a
permanent deal and held talks with Arsene Wenger about a possible transfer this
summer.
With Arsenal looking to strengthen the squad after reaching the
Champions League Qualification a deal looks more realistic. Arsenal need to reform
their wage structure so they might be happy to get rid of JD for an acceptable
price. JD has two years left on his contract so he won’t leave on the cheap but
somewhere between £3m and £4m should be enough to take him to Hannover on a
permanent basis, a deal I would take.
In
recent days rumours about Lukas Podolski’s future at the club have been spread.
Not sure where these rumours come from but I’d like to point out that Poldi
won’t leave the club. Why should he? He’s happy in London and had a good first
season at the club, scoring 16 goals in all competitions. On German television
he pointed out more than once that he looks forward to next season. Poldi will
get even better and will be an important factor in next seasons trophy
hunt.
That’s
it for this week’s Doppelpass. I hope you’ll be back next week with the
transfer window opening edging closer. For the latest news on Bundesliga footy
follow me on twitter or check out my blog www.germangunners.blogspot.com.
Cheers
Chris Mader
Mad, Jens-like, thirty-something German. Waving the Arsenal flag in Münster, Germany. Red member. Visiting Arsenal matches for more than 10 years now. Still fussed EasyJet won’t get me free flights. Always down N5 with my dad. Worked in London for about half a year. Started my own German Arsenal blog about two years ago. Expert on Bundesliga issues. BVB my local club.
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