Juve Slams Schalke Over Draxler Deal

Beppe Marotta has claimed that Juventus called off their
pursuit of Julian Draxler because Schalke were "difficult" to
deal with, the asking price was "disproportionate" and the
player's attitude wasn't right.

The Bianconeri were desperate to land a versatile attacker
before the close of the summer transfer window and had
their sights set on Germany international Draxler.

However, the Italian champions failed to agree a deal with
Schalke for the 21-year-old, who ended up joining Wolfsburg
instead.

Juve's deadline-day signing of Hernanes from Inter has thus
been viewed as an act of desperation but Marotta insists
that they were left with no option but to drop their interest in
Draxler.

“I officially pulled out of the running on August 19," the
Bianconeri director general told reporters on Wednesday. "It
was difficult to deal with Schalke, a very mysterious club
where nobody knew with whom we could talk.

"It was thus difficult to deal with them so we pulled out.

“They had also demanded a disproportionate asking price
and the player's motivation wasn't the highest. He did not
want to come.

"He's a young boy and has quality but we want to win this
season. We must integrate personality, determination and
soul into a winning group."

Marotta also confirmed that Juve had tried to sign Napoli
midfielder Marek Hamsik, with Partenopei president Aurelio
De Laurentiis having claimed that the Serie A champions
offered €25 million for the Slovakia international.

"Juventus were on Hamsik for a month," he added. "We
spoke 10 times with De Laurentiis but we worked under the
radar and nobody knew about it.

"Hamsik would have been a good fit for Juventus because
he already knows Serie A. If you want to win in Italy, you
need players like this.

"But some names have not come out. Maybe you’re not
aware of them, but they are big names..."