National soccer player Julian Draxler will play the rest of the current season at Benfica Lisbon. The Portuguese top club announced this on Thursday evening. The 28-year-old Draxler, who became world champion with the DFB team in 2014, is loaned out by Paris Saint-Germain for a season. Draxler is still under contract with the French champions until 2024, but he was no longer set for the first team with the new PSG coach Christophe Galtier.
“It’s a great club with a great history,” Draxler said of his new club. “I struggled for playing time in Paris and I think it’s the perfect club to play good football to find myself.” Draxler “can’t wait to meet my teammates.” For him, Benfica is “a good choice” at the moment, emphasized the former Schalke and Wolfsburg Bundesliga professional.
In Lisbon, Draxler meets the German coach Roger Schmidt – and soon he meets his former club again. In the Champions League, Benfica will play against Paris in Group H on October 5.
Lisbon signed another player with Bundesliga experience late in the evening. Berlin-born John Anthony Brooks (29), who was already active for Hertha BSC and most recently for VfL Wolfsburg, was also presented as an access. The centre-back signed for one season.
