Everton enter Draxler race

Everton have emerged as shock contenders to sign unsettled German midfielder Julian Draxler, according to reports.

In an interview with German newspaper Bild earlier this week, Draxler expressed his desire to leave current club Wolfsburg, despite only joining the Volks Wagon owned club a year ago.

Arsenal and Juventus have been credited with an interest in signing the 22-year-old, however, The Independent is now reporting that Everton have joined the race to sign the highly rated attacking midfielder.

Arsenal have been linked with a move for Draxler for many years, dating back to his time at Schalke 04, and Italian champions Juventus were interested in signing the player last summer, although they ultimately felt that the €30 million that Wolfsburg were prepared to offer was beyond what they deemed reasonable.

New Everton boss Ronald Koeman is thought to be keen on signing Draxler and, thanks to recent investment from Iranian billionaire Farhad Moshiri, the Toffees are believed to have as much as £100 million to spend on transfers this summer.

Draxler will not come cheap thouigh. Wolfsburg have released a statement confirming their determination to hold on to the player, and it has recently come to light that Draxler's contract contains a €75 million (£63 million) release clause.

If Everton are to be successful in their unlikely pursuit of the Germany international, they will have to break the current British transfer record of £59.7 million, set by Angel Di Maria's move to Manchester United two years ago.