Premier League Sides Suffer Setback in Race for PSG Star as Manager Insists He Remains 'Important'

Paris Saint-Germain manager Unai Emery has delivered a sizeable setback to both Liverpool and Arsenal in regards to Julian Draxler.

The German moved to the French capital in the January transfer window of 2017, after forcing his way out of VfL Wolfsburg. 

Despite fine performances in his first season, however, Draxler has fallen down the pecking order due to the arrivals of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. 

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Speaking to Sky Sports, as quoted by the Metro, Emery said: "He's in a constant evolution and he still has a lot of energy. At PSG, Draxler is in very good hands, he's a great contributor to our game, he's learning a lot."

Although having fallen out of favour at the start of the season, the 24-year-old has revived his career at the Parisiens of late by impressing when he caught a break. 

Since the resounding win over OGC Nice in October, Draxler has featured in eight of PSG's nine matches, starting in all but one. 

"I talk to him a lot and I'm very demanding with him." Emery added, "and he's one of those very ambitious players, and he shows that with good performances - also, for the national team, and he's a very important player for us."

Liverpool and Arsenal were both reportedly interested in Draxler during the latter days at Wolfsburg. The Gunners were even heavily interested in the midfielder while at Schalke, but balked at the asking price.

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Despite the loss to Bayern, PSG finished top of their group and go into the knockout stages, alongside the Bavarians.