Should Juventus try to sign Julian Draxler this summer?

Juventus will be in the market for a new creative midfielder this summer. Aaron Ramsey is injured too frequently and isn’t exactly getting the job done on the pitch. He is an experienced player who helps the team with his passing in the final third, but he is inconsistent and not dynamic enough on the ball to truly be of use to the Bianconeri.

Ramsey could be headed back to the Premier League. But who will replace him? Ideally, Juve would go after a young, ascending player. The rumor mill, though, is pointing towards experienced free agents.

Juve have already been linked to Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu, and now L’Equipe reports, via Forza Juventus on Twitter, that the Bianconeri could try to sign PSG’s Julian Draxler.

Like Ramsey, Draxler could be signed by the Old Lady as a free agent in the upcoming summer transfer window. And Juve, per L’Equipe, would be willing to offer him five million euros per year in salary. That’s a significant amount of money to be spending in a pandemic, but it would actually be less than what Juve are paying to Ramsey. And Draxler is younger.

Julian Draxler isn’t a bad player, but he is not for Juventus

Draxler gets criticized a lot, but he’s actually a good attacking midfielder. And he’s been playing very well in recent weeks for PSG since Mauricio Pochettino’s appointment.

Although Draxler gets unfair hate, the 27-year-old still wouldn’t be a good fit for Juventus. It is tempting to sign players for free, and Juve love the idea of taking fliers on big-name free agents and then selling them later for 20 million euros or so. Draxler could be in the same boat as Ramsey, and he likely has more upside than failed free-agent signings Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot, who may also be on the way out this summer.

But is this really the right strategy for Juve? It hasn’t ever worked out. Maybe Juve make a few bucks, but that’s no way to run a team, right? The Bianconeri need to focus on rising stars who are affordable and who can help the team both in the short and long term. They need to build a team and a core, not sign iffy free agents here and there.

Draxler has quality, but where does he even fit? He’s more of a forward than anything else, and Juve already have Paulo Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo. If they want to shift to having a No. 10, Draxler still isn’t the best fit since he won’t defend to the degree a Serie A side would want. Weston McKennie as an anti-10 would probably be a better option, since he has scored about as many goals this season and is a superior defender.

The rumor mill continues to churn out names for Juventus, and Draxler is another notable name to comfortably turn down.