Sunday, 2nd March, 2014
Schalke chairman Clemens Tonnies has admitted he is pleased to hear of such interest in the club's talent Julian Draxler and accepts that the 20-year-old will eventually head elsewhere.
Draxler has attracted much interest over the last 12 months and in the January transfer window was strongly linked with English giants Arsenal; Schalke's Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich have since emerged as genuine suitors themselves.
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And with Draxler having a release clause in his contract set at €45.5m and which will be active this coming summer, Schalke could find themselves powerless to prevent his departure.
Tonnies is taking a realistic view, firstly being pleased the player is attracting attention: "It pleases me when FC Bayern or foreign clubs are interested in our players", he told German daily TZ.
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"But that doesn't mean that they will move there. It rather means that we are doing a great job and that we have a good youth department."
However, Tonnies does feel that the time will come when the attacking midfielder does up sticks to head elsewhere. And that is something he is prepared to accept.
"I've already said it quite often: Players of Julian's quality will of course eventually look elsewhere", the Schalke chairman conceded.
"It is difficult for us to prevent that.
"What's important to me is that the transfer benefits the club, too.
"Even though it is a shame to see players like [Manuel] Neuer or maybe sometime in the future Draxler go: One should not pocket the money and then moan about it afterwards."
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