Julian Draxler headed to Al-Ahli - PSG earn up to €80m from transfers to Qatar

Julian Draxler is walking in the footsteps of Marco Verratti and is headed to Qatar. After initial reports that Draxler was going to turn down a transfer to Qatar Stars League club Al-Ahli SC, a deal was confirmed on Monday via the club's Instagram account. Draxler will join the club from Paris Saint-Germain where he had no prospect of playing time this season. By offloading Draxler to Qatar, PSG are now set to further strengthen their Financial Fair Play position.   

According to a report by Sky, Draxler accepted an offer from Al-Ahli on Thursday and arrived in Doha on this weekend to complete his medical and sign his paperwork. Draxler is expected to sign a two-year contract. Although initially reluctant, the 58-times German national team player has given his green light for a transfer to Qatar last week. 

Sky also reported that PSG are expected to receive in the region of €20m for the winger, whose market value is currently just €6m. Reports out of France indicated a smaller fee of just €9m for the winger. If reports of around €20m are accurate, Draxler would become just the third German footballer to generate over €100m in transfer fees throughout his career. A fee in the region of €20m would make Draxler the 12th most expensive departure in club history, while only one player was more expensive in the history of the Qatar Stars League. Verratti joined Al-Arabi in a deal worth €45m earlier this week. 

By selling Draxler: PSG earned €178m from Qatar and Saudi Arabia

“Julian has an offer from the Middle East, which is significant,” his agent Roger Wittmann said at the end of August when asked about Draxler’s future. “He has to deal with some family matters first before considering such an offer. But when a player has an offer from there, then I would suggest to them to do it. It is very different than China or Russia.” One month later, the answer seems apparent as Draxler ends his chapter in Europe to head to Qatar. 

Indeed, it is perhaps the end of what was once a promising career for Draxler, who won the 2014 World Cup with Germany. The 29-year-old was recently linked with a move to the Premier League where Crystal Palace was interested, but a deal never got across the line. Draxler was on loan at Benfica last season but, because of injuries, couldn’t rejuvenate his career, and his market value collapsed to just €6m, the lowest since he first emerged as a 17-year-old at Schalke. 

PSG, in the meantime, have made the most of the situation. After spending €350m on new players, the Ligue 1 giants the Draxler transfer would see their income in player sales grow to €214m (all PSG transfers in 2023/24). Once the Draxler deal is complete, PSG will have generated €178m from selling players to the Arabian Peninsula. This is a fact that has been seen critically by other European clubs. The French giants generated up to $80m by selling Draxler, Verratti, and Abdou Diallo to Qatar and another €98m by moving on Neymar and Georginio Wijnaldum to the Saudi Pro League, which has significantly improved their FFP position.