It looks like Julian Draxler is in fact leaving Schalke 04 this summer.
The young German has garnered a tremendous amount of attention in the past few months. Arsenal was reportedly interesting in picking him up; Bayern Munich was another team with rumored attract Draxler's interest.
Schalke refused to sell its star player, but the team has seemingly come to terms with the fact that Draxler will likely leave this summer.
"I am delighted that we have him on board for the second half of the season but, because of his clause, he can leave when a club puts the money on the table," Schalke manager Jens Keller said, according to ESPN. "That's why I can't plan with him, because it is just not in my or our hands."
"It's a god-awful situation when, as the coach, you don't know whether such an important player will move on, but Julian was injured at that time, so at least any unrest did not necessarily affect the other players," he added before admitting that a backup plan will be necessary.
"It would have been bad if we didn't have one. When you have to replace a player like Julian, you had better be prepared." He added before also providing a warning for the young star. "It's clear that all the talk about his 45.5 million euro release clause and the interest from top European clubs leaves its mark on such a young lad... The hype around him last summer was huge. He must learn to cope with that, and also that failing to perform at less than 100 percent is not good enough for him."
Draxler has scored one goal and four assists in 14 games this season for Schalke. The 20-year-old scored 10 goals and three assists.
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