Draxler urges German players to play abroad

Munich: German players should look to grab an opportunity to play abroad in order to enrich their game and add to the national team’s strength, winger Julian Draxler said on Monday.

The 24-year-old Paris St Germain player, who started his professional career as a teenager at Schalke 04, joined the French champions in early 2017. “It is only an advantage if you play abroad,” he said at Germany’s camp in Eppan, Italy. “There is a new language, a new environment, a new mentality. You have to overcome big challenges and I can understand [German players] who want to move aboard and I can only advise them to do it.”

There were seven Germans from clubs outside the Bundesliga in 2014 and currently nine on their preliminary squad for the tournament in Russia next month.