Julian Draxler joins Wolfsburg for record transfer fee, signs 5-year contract

VfL Wolfsburg wasted no time in filling the void left by Kevin De Bruyne.

Julian Draxler completed his move to Volkswagen Arena on Monday, joining the club for a transfer fee that is the biggest Schalke has ever received for a player and putting pen to paper on a five-year contract.

(Courtesy: Bundesliga)

Draxler's move to Wolfsburg comes as a devastating blow to Juventus, who looked poised to sign the 21-year-old phenom more than once throughout the summer. The player's agent, Roger Wittman, stated in late July that his client was closing in a deal with the reigning Serie A champion, but Schalke confirmed only days later that it had rejected a bid.

Then, following weeks of silence through August and its sale of De Bruyne, Wolfsburg popped up from seemingly out of nowhere to secure Draxler's services.

"There are two reasons for our decision to accept Wolfsburg's offer: We will not be disclosing information about the transfer fee, but we can say that it is the biggest transfer we've received for a player at Schalke," sporting director Horst Heldt explained. "Moreover, we have complied with Julian's desire to move to another club.

"At the end of last season, Julian came to me and expressly said that he wanted to leave the club. I told him that we would consider any offers that came in for him, but I also tried to convince him until the end to stay in light of the new sporting direction that we're now taking. Julian acknowledges the positive developments that we've seen in recent months, but this did not change his stance. Instead he repeated his desire to leave."

At Wolfsburg, Draxler will be able to once again compete in the Champions League – something that was not an option this season at Schalke – as Dieter Hecking's side has been placed in Group B alongside PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, and CSKA Moscow.