Reports: Wenger "confident" of Draxler deal

The Mirror, Telegraph and Daily Mail are all running a similar story tonight: Arsenal are close to signing Julian Draxler. According to Matt Law of the Telegraph, talks with Schalke about a £36m were progressing well. Lukasz Fabianski could also be included in the deal. The sense of needing to complete the deal before the transfer window closes on Friday has been increased after Aaron Ramsey could potentially miss a month after re-aggravating his thigh injury.

In the Mirror, John Cross has a similar story, though adds that Arsene Wenger is "confident" of sealing the deal, adding that Schalke are eager to cash in on Draxler to "ease financial problems". By paying the entirety of the fee, Schalke could be willing to accept a lower price than Draxler's summer buyout clause.

Furthermore, Germany's team doctor, Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, who of course conducted Mesut Özil's medical, has allegedly told Arsenal that Draxler could return to full fitness in a week.

This is all promising stuff, but it is interesting to note that German papers claim that Arsenal's delegation never arrived in Germany, despite all the major British outlets asserting the opposite. There is a fair degree of uncertainty with regards to any potential move for Draxler, but, there's an awful lot of smoke for there not to be a fire. At the very least, Arsenal have made tomorrow and Friday far more interesting.