Gunners undeterred for deadline day Draxler bid

Arsenal remain hopeful of signing Schalke 04 star Julian Draxler before the January transfer window closes tomorrow night.

A deal remains more likely to be completed in the summer but that has not deterred Arsenal from sending Dick Law, their chief transfer negotiator, to Germany to explore the possibility of a deal this month.

The sticking point to a deal remains the fee.

Draxler’s contract contains a £37m buy-out clause but Arsenal are unwilling to pay that figure for the 20-year-old.

However, the Gunners feeling at Arsenal there could be room for manoeuvre with Schalke and are conscious that if they wait until the summer they could have face competition from rival clubs for the player.

Last week Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the club were “very unlikely” to do any business this month.

Since then Aaron Ramsey has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from a thigh strain and Mathieu Flamini has incurred a four-match ban for the red card that he received in Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw at Southampton. Those blows appear to have altered Wenger’s views.

“I hope we have something to tell you because we lost a few players now,” Wenger said after the Saints game.

Despite the draw at St Mary’s and increasing injury problems, midfielder Mikel Arteta remains confident of staying on the right track.

“That (injuries) happens and we have to deal with it,” the Spaniard said.

“The schedule is really busy now — we have some really tough games coming up in the next two weeks and we have to deal with it and do our best.

“We had many options but that is one problem that we have had in the last few weeks: we have had a lot of injuries, losing Theo Walcott for a long time (to a cruciate knee ligament injury), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is just coming back, too many.

“Tomas Rosicky as well was out for a couple of weeks with his nose so we are a bit short at the moment but, hopefully, we can get people back.

“We can’t do anything [about other teams] — it doesn’t depend on us. There is a long way to go.

“Everyone is going to drop points and some will do so at Southampton because it is a very tough place to come. Hopefully, we will be fine.”

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Arsenal’s FA Cup fifth round tie against Liverpool will be played at 4pm on Sunday, February 16.

The news, while not unexpected, will not please Wenger.

The Arsenal boss wanted the game to be played a day earlier to allow his team extra time in their preparations for the Champions League clash with Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium the following Wednesday.