Julian Draxler snubbed Premier League offers for World Cup dream

Julian Draxler

Julian Draxler has stirred the pot before Tuesday’s crucial game with Chelsea on Tuesday by stating that he turned down the chance to play in the Premier League this season.

Talking to BBC Sport before the Champions League clash, he said his reasons were based around the desire to play fro Germany in the World Cup finals next summer but would not rule a move out in the future.

“There were offers from England, but I stayed because I was certain to play in World Cup year,” he told BBC Sport.

“However, you never know what will happen in the future.”

To add some fire to the story the 20-year old claims that he already has a favourite team in England, but will not discuss a move out of respect for his current club Schalke 04.

“I have my favourite team, but I am at Schalke and I don’t want to talk about other clubs.

“If I state it’s Arsenal or Manchester United then maybe I’ll be reading it in the newspapers tomorrow.”

The Express linked the wonderkid with the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal. Furthermore, no one would rule big spending Chelsea out of the running for the German international, and Draxler also stated his admiration of Jose Mourinho ahead of the game in Gelsenkirchen, saying the ‘The Special One’ would not be so foolish to underestimate the German side.

“I’ve spoken with Schurrle. He’s happy at Chelsea and likes the manager Jose Mourinho a lot,” Draxler said.

“It’s going well for him. It’s not easy to go to England from Germany. I hope I’ll be able to play against him on Tuesday.”

“I don’t think Chelsea will be surprised by how good we are,” he continued.

“Mourinho will tell his side how strong we are. He’s one of the best coaches if not the best coach in the world. It will be a difficult game, but we are at home and we’ve won the first two matches. We can beat Chelsea.”