Man United target £30m German as next summer purchase
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According to his reputation, Jose Mourinho doesn’t trust young players. But as the Portuguese lines up another big-money youth as his latest Manchester United signing, it seems times have changed.
The former Chelsea boss has already struck a deal for one 22-year-old in defender Eric Bailly and is reportedly hot on the heels of a second.
The Star on Sunday suggest the Red Devils are keen to lure Julian Draxler to the Premier League. The Wolfsburg forward, the publication says, is Manchester United’s second choice after Borussia Dortmund ace Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
With the latter appearing to be out of reach, United have altered their focus onto Draxler, who is currently in France as part of Germany’s Euro 2016 squad.
The Wolfsburg star has featured twice in the tournament so far, completing 78 minutes in the 2-0 win over Ukraine and 72 against Poland in the group stage.
It’s fair to say the former Schalke youth hasn’t quite shown his full talent in those two matches and will be looking to make an impact if given the chance now the knockout rounds are here.
Draxler has had a number of injury issues in recent times and was restricted to just 15 league appearances after suffering a serious knee injury in 2014/15.
He switched to Wolfsburg on deadline day last term and scored five goals with six assists in his 21 Bundesliga outings for his new side.
Contracted to the end of the 2020 season and valued at £18m by soccer website transfermarkt.com, the 22-year-old forward would naturally fetch a pretty penny should United make their interest formal.
The Star on Sunday reason that £30m is the golden figure required to open negotiations. But should that fee be met and the German arrive at Old Trafford, then it would almost certainly require Mourinho to balance his squad.
As a natural number 10 that can also play on either flank, Draxler’s purchase would put the futures of Memphis Depay, Juan Mata, Adnan Januzaj and Ashley Young in jeopardy.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
