Julian Draxler

Wolfsburg have confirmed the signing of Julian Draxler from Schalke for a fee believed to be in excess of €30 million.

The 21-year-old midfielder will fill the void left by the sale of Kevin De Bruyne to Manchester City on Sunday.

The move comes on the same day Wolfsburg completed the signing of defender Dante from Bayern Munich.

“Wolfsburg is a new challenge for me,” said Draxler in a press release from his new club.

“I would like to continue playing at the highest level and Wolfsburg are offering me excellent prospects and they have an extremely strong team.

“I’m looking forward to playing in the Champions League with Wolfsburg and I want to be challenging for titles here in years to come.”

Wolfsburg’s director of sport Klaus Allofs was delighted to welcome the World Cup winner to his club.

“Julian Draxler was the player we wanted and we have been able to sign him,” he said.

“We’re delighted that he has chosen Wolfsburg and therefore to stay in the Bundesliga and we are convinced that Julian will develop further here.”

Wolfsburg beat off competition from Juventus to sign the Germany international, who has been capped 15 times by his country in addition to playing 170 games in all competitions for the Royal Blues.

“Julian is somebody who can play in practically any position across the front line,” said Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking.

“He fits the bill perfectly for the kind of player we were looking for and for our style of play. In spite of his young age, he already has a lot of experience.”

Schalke revealed the club were left with little choice after the player had pushed for a move in this transfer window.

General manager Horst Heldt said: “We will not be disclosing information about the transfer fee, but we can say that it is the biggest amount we’ve received for a player at Schalke.

“Moreover, we have complied with Julian’s desire to move to another club.”