Yes, he went after the money! And he is honest about it

He was projected to be the future of German and European football, but Julian Draxler's career did not develop as expected. And at the age of 30, he practically said 'goodbye' to serious football...

The former jewel of Schalke, the world champion with Germany, then the most expensive player in the history of Wolfsburg (43,000,000 euros) and a big reinforcement of Paris Saint-Germain, moved to Qatar's Al-Ahli a few days ago, where he will fall into football oblivion.

Admittedly, his career has been on a downward trajectory for years, so this is not a big surprise. Unlike the bunch of big names that replaced Europe with Saudi Arabia this summer where some really strong teams were built and the level of the league was raised a few notches, in Qatar it's hasn't exploded as it did in the Saudi Pro League.

Draxler's transfer drew more attention for the shady Qatari deals than for the player himself. PSG used him, Marco Verratti and Abdou Diallo to fix up the club's books due to Financial Fair Play by inflating the amount of compensation and pumping Qatari money into the account in a legal way. It's hard to prove that these players aren't worth that much when today the only measure of value is what someone is willing to pay.

Qatari football does not have such famous names as Saudi football, but the Qataris have been doing something different for years and buy more according to European standards, relying on scouting and real needs. With Verratti and Draxler are rare exceptions as the best players in Qatar are mostly younger footballers who have yet to reach their potential. Most often we are talking about talented South Americans and Africans like Giovanni (19), Bamba (21), Diaz (21), Plata (22) who are paid several million euros and belong to the middle class of European football. True, there are more experienced names like Philippe Coutinho, Andy Delort, Rodrigo Moreno or Mateus Uribe, but they are not paid as much as in Saudi Arabia and represent the quality with which local players can progress.

Draxler joined Al-Ahli, a club that has never won the national championship and in which he will be the only well-known name. There are also former Sheriff's stopper Danilo Arboleda, former Sporting midfielder Idrissa Doumbia, and the coach is Montenegrin Nebojsa Jovović, a big football name in the Middle East.

Draxler does not hide that money was the main factor that made him choose to go to the Middle East at the age of 30. He honestly admits that the majority of football players who went to the Arab world this summer are solely driven by financial motives.

"I could lift my chin now and say: 'After 12 years in Europe, I was interested in getting to know a new culture, to gain a new experience, to participate in an exciting Arab football project'... And to ignore the question of money. Although all these mentioned aspects are true, I would be a liar if I said that the financial part did not play a key role," said Draxler to Bild.

The German earned 5,000,000 euros net per year in Paris Saint-Germain, and no relevant world media has yet published the amount of the contract in Qatar. It is only assumed that it is drastically larger than the one he had at Parc des Princes.

"In the end, I came to the conclusion that the offered financial conditions give us more options. Me and my family for some projects outside of football".

Draxler claims Arab investment in football will pay off.

"Although we in Germany don't like to hear it, football in the Arab world is progressing very quickly. Big investments are creating a serious system that will definitely be able to compete with European football in the future", said the German.

PSG's tiny Italian gem joins Qatar runners-up

Draxler played in Schalke when he was only 17 years old, by moving to Wolfsburg he became the most expensive player in the history of the Bundesliga and then he arrived at Parc des Princes as a future star. At that moment, only Thiago Silva and Angel Di Maria had bigger contracts than him at Paris Saint-Germain. He was paid more than even Cavani. Shortly after him, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe arrived at the club, so Draxler fell into the background in the mentioned competition. He played less and less and spent last season on loan at Benfica where he was the highest paid player in the club but the Eagles did not want to keep him.

This summer, several German clubs wanted him, but financially they could not match the offer from Qatar.