Julian Draxler's career receives the next low blow: The 2014 world champion is not part of Paris Saint-Germain's squad for a preparatory trip to the new season. With a view to a possible World Cup ticket for the DFB team, the 28-year-old urgently needs a solution.
Things are no longer going well for Julian Draxler. This rate does not include a short-term dimension. Because the 2014 World Champion (yes, he was actually there and played 17 minutes in the legendary 7-1 semi-final against Brazil) has not played a major role on the pitch for a long time. Neither with his club Paris St. Germain nor with the German national soccer team. A place in national coach Hansi Flick's World Cup squad for the highly controversial desert tournament at the end of the year is just as uncertain as his future with the Qatari soccer giants from the French capital.
As "L'Equipe" now reports, there are ten stars on PSG's strike list. Including the German offensive player. The new coach Christophe Galtier, who replaced the hapless Mauricio Pochettino, and the new sports director Luis Campos want to streamline the luxury ensemble until the start of the new season. As a first consequence, Draxler, whose contract with the French champions runs until 2024, was one of four professionals not allowed to go on a preparatory trip to Japan. In addition to the 28-year-old, Ander Herrera, Georginio Wijnaldum and Layvin Kurzawa also have to stay at home.
What's next for Draxler? Not clear. Recently there have been rumors that AC Milan should be interested. Likewise, by the way, as on his team and national team colleague Thilo Kehrer. But as quickly as the speculation arose, it disappeared just as quickly. The current ban from the PSG squad is the next severe blow in the career of the Gladbecker, which once began so promisingly at FC Schalke 04, but then maneuvered more and more into a dead end via the stations VfL Wolfsburg and Paris. A parallel to Max Meyer's wrong path, also trained at the Gelsenkirchen club. Both careers are characterized by big dreams and sobering realities. At Draxler, however, at a much higher level and with a (still) significantly lower fall height.
However, the 28-year-old will probably not have many chances to turn the path down the career valley, i.e. to return to the path to the summit. He had already been counted several times. For example, from ex-DFB coach Joachim Löw, whose loyalty to the Nibelungen, which he cultivated extremely meticulously for many years, had become a legend. In September 2020, Löw said: "It would be important for Julian, even at the age where he plays regularly, to take a step. That would probably help him a lot." The subtext then also resonated: and his career in the national team. Team manager Oliver Bierhoff followed suit in October. He said that Draxler should show "that he is not just a follower, but that his qualities can also be a very big factor for the national team". Little has happened on Draxler's side. Until nothing.
In the meantime, he felt the consequences of his inaction in the national team. On Löw's final mission, the EM 2021, Draxler was no longer a companion. The eternity yogi had always had big plans with the left winger. He was the great lobby worker for a footballer whose fans rave about the fine technique and cleverness, whose critics despair of the exaggerated and often inefficient step-overs.
Brazil's 17 minutes as World Champion should only be the beginning of a great DFB career. But the hope turned into a mystery. Elegant movements on the ball, a powerful shot and above-average game intelligence characterize the native of Gladbeck. Few national players brought more talent with them than Draxler. The "Zeit" once even wrote that he was more blessed than world champion maker Mario Götze, who has also not been a DFB player for a long time. His problem, Draxler's: he just can't do it all the time. Neither for Paris, where he has never been able to establish himself as an undisputed regular player since January 2017, despite 198 games, despite 26 goals, despite 41 assists, and not for Germany either.
He was once captain of the team and even very successful. With a perspective squad, Draxler won the 2017 Confed Cup in Russia. At that time, the 29-year-old from September was considered the leader of the team around Leon Goretzka, who has meanwhile left him far behind on the career path - in the club and in the DFB team. Will it take him back there again, or will it stay with the 58 international matches? Hansi Flick sees things very clearly because his nomination criteria are very clear. "We told the players what we expect: that they have game practice and rhythm, that they are developing," he said before the Nations League duels in mid-May. Officially, Draxler could not be nominated because of a knee injury. So far, the summer of 2022 has been a slap in the face for Draxler in every respect.
