Julian Draxler arrived in Lisbon by surprise to reinforce Benfica. The name needs no introduction and the curriculum speaks for itself. He is world champion for the German national team (2014) and is on loan from PSG without an option to buy. To have the 28-year-old German creative midfielder, who also plays as a right winger, available for Roger Schmidt in the 2022-23 season, the Reds are paying 2.5 million in rent and 30-40% of the seven million euro salary.
Last season he played 24 games in Paris before suffering a knee injury in March. He hasn’t played since and coach Christopher Galtier didn’t count on Draxler, who had competition from Mbappe, Messi, Neymar and Sarabia. That is why Luís Campos (Sporting Director of PSG) was looking for a solution for the German.
Hiring Draxler is the answer the Benfica leaders have found to the failed purchases of Mario Gotze, Daichi Kamada and… Ricardo Horta. The protagonist of this soap opera of the summer market which ends today at midnight, thus remains in Sp. Braga… except for a last minute proposal.
Acted at seven
Jul, as he is called, was born in the German city of Gladbeck on September 20, 1993 and grew up in a middle-class family in the industrial coal mining town. Inseparable from the two brothers, the ball was one of the few toys he had. One day his father, Hans-Jürgen Draxler, who is now his manager, took him to FC Schalke 04, a team with an academy nearby, and the dream was born.
He started at BV Rentfort at the age of 5 and was in the news very early for a very early transfer. At the age of 7 he was signed by SSV Buer – the transfer involved money – and it didn’t take more than a year for FC Schalke 04 to discover his talent. He made his first team debut at the age of 17 in 2011 through Felix Magath. He played only 7 minutes, but convinced the coach to start him in the next game alongside players like Neuer, Raúl, Metzelder or Huntelaar.
He arrived at the national team shortly after (at the age of 18) and became world champion in 2014, but after the dream came the nightmare. A serious injury to the Achilles tendon that kept him out of the field for six months. He came back big and when half of Europe courted him, he chose Wolfsburg, a rival of Schalke 04, who paid €43 million for him – which is why fans still call him Judas Draxler. In the Die Wölfe team, he had good days until the moment when he was about to drop a division and decided to move to Paris. After six seasons and some injuries, he moves to Luz.
The fifth world champion in the I League
Draxler is the fifth world champion to reach the Portuguese league. The first was Anderson Polga, who, after becoming world champion for Brazil in 2002, signed for Sporting in 2003-04, having stayed in Alvalade until 2011-12, playing over 340 games.
Another world champion who played in Portugal was Joan Capdevila, who won the competition for Spain in 2010 and signed for Benfica a year later. Iker Casillas also arrived from the neighboring country, in the 2015-16 season and after defending Real Madrid’s goal for two decades.
The last world champion to play in the Portuguese championship was Frenchman Adil Rami, who signed for Boavista in 2020. The center who played for Marseille was part of the French team that became world champions in 2018, but did not play a minute.
Vlachodimos at Ajax?
Vlachodimos is waiting for an agreement between Ajax and Benfica to move to the Netherlands. The goalkeeper has already said yes to the Dutchman, but Rui Costa has not yet accepted the offer of 12 million euros for the goalkeeper pass. Since the market in the Netherlands closes at midnight, the transfer has little chance of success, not least because that would force the club to go to the market to find a new keeper and Navas do P.SG is not an option, despite being placed on the Luz route yesterday.
In Portugal, the market closes on Thursday (September 1) and Benfica still has files to close – Weigl is doing medical checkups at Borussia Mönchengladbach tomorrow to sign and Meite is interested in Italy’s Cremonese.
Jan Vertonghen moves to Anderlecht. The 35-year-old Belgian central defender is negotiating his departure and an agreement has already been reached between all parties, but with the market in Belgium only closing for a week, this is a file that can wait. Morato’s injury – he will be out for 4 to 6 weeks due to a right ankle injury he sustained in the game against Paços de Ferreira – will not stop the Belgian’s departure. But with two more injured centre-backs (Lucas Verissimo and Luis Victor) left, Benfica can sign another on the last day of the market and Rúben Vezo – loaned from Levante – is a possibility.
Source: DN
