Paris Saint-Germain are said to be trying to entice Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to become their manager by signing Diego Costa from Atlético Madrid and Schalke’s Julian Draxler.
French newspaper L’Equipe reported earlier this month that Paris Saint-Germain are considering making yet another approach for Arsenal’s manager, who has stated that he will sign a new contract with the Premier League club, but has yet to put pen to paper.
According to Football direct news, however, Chelsea linked striker Diego Costa has been sounded out by the French club – even though PSG can already count on similar players in the mould of Edinson Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and rumours surfaced a few days ago that Chelsea had made a reported €60m agreement with Atletico for the striker.
Even Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone, usually one to keeps his cards close to his chest, has hinted that a deal with the Blues could be on the cards by admitting that he won’t stand in the way of the striker if he wants to join Jose Mourinho’s men.
Schalke’s German international Julian Draxler, on the other hand, is a player Arsenal chased hard throughout the January transfer window. Rated at more than €45.5m, the 20-year-old playmaker is now fully expected to stay at the German club after Chairman Tonnies said:
‘If nothing exceptional happens then Julian will stay with us. I am convinced that he will even play longer than just the next season for Schalke. After that we will see’.
It has been a tough week for current PSG manager Laurent Blanc, though – a quarter-final exit at the hands of Chelsea in the Champions League was swiftly followed on Sunday by a 1-0 defeat away at Lyon in Ligue 1.
And Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has now come out and given his manager the dreaded ‘full support’ amid reports that he could soon be axed.
Wenger, of course, has famously never broken a contract, and has caused consternation among the top ranks at Arsenal by wanting to wait until the season’s end before signing on for another 2 years.
With many Arsenal fans now calling for a new man to take the club forward, Wenger understandably wants to wait until the season plays out before committing himself to the club – but with Arsenal back as favourites for the final Champions League slot for next season, and strongly tipped to win the FA Cup next month, it’s odds on that Wenger will still be Arsenal manager next season – despite the best efforts of Paris Saint-Germain.
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