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As more and more publications jump on the Julian Draxler-to-Arsenal train -- and as more and more pundits compare Draxler to Robin van Persie, thinking that Arsene Wenger will engineer a similar magical winger-to-forward conversion -- there's a bit of unfortunate reality getting in the way of these plans.
It turns out that Draxler has an injury. Both the Daily Mail and Metro are reporting that Draxler is to see a specialist in Munich for a "ruptured tendon" (which doesn't sound good), and Metro chimes in with the doomy proclamation that it could be for as much as three months. And yet, both publications say that Arsenal's still in for the £35-37M bid it would take to bring him over from Schalke in the January window.
Our favorite German soccer expert, Jan Aage Fjortoft, originally sent out a since-deleted tweet saying that the injury would only sideline Draxler for 10 days, and then posted this:
Reliable German journalist @Sky_Dirk who follows Schalke says Julian Draxler will be back middle of February.
— Jan Aage Fjortoft (@JanAageFjortoft) January 15, 2014
That would be Sky Sports' Dirk Schlarmann, who totally gave us a shout-out yesterday by retweeting this:
The last sentence says it all --> How Tottenham selling Lewis Holtby could help Arsenal - The Short Fuse http://t.co/52bkBnCAkM
— Schalke UK news (@Schalke_UK) January 15, 2014
And Raphael Honigstein, another German soccer expert who takes to Twitter as well, had this to say:
Re Draxler injury. No new reports in Germany yet. Schalke have told reporters a couple of days ago that there'll be an update this week.
— Raphael Honigstein (@honigstein) January 15, 2014
Though "ruptured tendon" might not be the thing that moves Dick Law to get Draxler's paperwork in motion, Fjortoft quoted Honigstein on his Twitter account yesterday, saying that the Draxler move is still more likely in the summer, Schalke will let buyers come to them, and Arsenal would have the inside track over Bayern Munich if both came calling.
So, you know, encouraging, except for the whole "ruptured tendon" thing.