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Meet Julian, a 19-year-old budding superstar. Born 15 km from Schalke 04, he just signed a brand new contract extension with the club with whom he's been since age 9.
At the time, there had been speculation about his future, a move to Dortmund as a Mario Gotze-replacement foremost among them. The fresh five-year deal delighted Schalke's supporters so much, they went as far as hiring a fleet of billboard-trucks to troll the BVB faithful. In short, Julian Draxler is theirs, and nobody else can have him.
But wait! Silly season don't play that. Suddenly, a wild buyout clause emerges!
Nun scheint es möglich, dass Draxler keineswegs bis 2018 in Gelsenkirchen bleibt. Vielleicht sogar viel kürzer. Der neue Vertrag beinhaltet nämlich eine Ausstiegsklausel. Mehr noch: Diese soll jederzeit wirksam sein, sogar noch in diesem Sommer.
Nach "Welt"-Informationen würde ein Draxler-Transfer in diesem Sommer immens teuer werden. Wer sich die Dienste des Rechtsfußes sichern will, muss 45,5 Millionen Euro auf den Tisch legen. Im nächsten Sommer wäre Draxler dann schon billiger.
-Source: Die Welt
Apparently, Draxler's contract now includes a buyout clause and that is understood to be €45.5m, at least for this summer. Next year, it would get slightly cheaper. So basically, if somebody else wants Draxler right now, they'd have to pay through the nose to get him.
Who you gonna call when a large transfer fee needs to be paid? Chelsea of course! Enter Kicker:
Nach kicker-Informationen steht Draxler neben einer Reihe internationaler Hochkaräter auch auf der Wunschliste des FC Chelsea.
-Source: Kicker
Jose Mourinho's "wishlist" has got to be the greatest thing since the printing press (and then later the Internet and Twitter) to the rumor mill. I know I keep my wishlist on Amazon; I wonder if Mourinho has made his publicly available as well. I bet he assigned a high priority to a 19-year-old attacking midfielder with bags of talent, even. It would be silly not to.
Of course, there's always that pesky reality - ruining fantasies since forever - to deal with.
Schalke general manager Horst Heldt insists they have no enquiry from Chelsea about Draxler, but it is not surprised to hear other clubs are interested in the skilful midfielder.
"I have heard nothing about it," Heldt told BILD. "There has been no official transfer enquiry from Chelsea FC incoming and we are also in no touch with that club actually.
-Source: Sky Sports
Oh. So let me see if I have this straight:
- Make up rumor
- Deny rumor
- Repeat steps 1-2.
Carry on.