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Juventus coach Allegri heaps praise on Schalke star Julian Draxler

Ina Fassbender / REUTERS

Massimiliano Allegri made no secret of his admiration for Schalke 04 midfielder Julian Draxler. The Juventus coach heaped praise on the German international, in an effort to woo him to the Turin club.

Allegri spoke highly of Draxler amid reports that Juventus made a final offer to Schalke to acquire him, after Schalke turned down the previous bid and reportedly ended negotiations.

The Juventus coach told Tuttosport, via ESPN that Draxler is "a young player with a great future," adding that, while Draxler has been playing more centrally with Schalke, he "can see him playing more in a wide role behind the strikers" at Juventus.

The Italian champions will be looking for midfield replacements after selling Chilean international Arturo Vidal to Bayern Munich earlier in the summer window.

Ever the optimist, Allegri made clear that any signing, Draxler's included, would only be approved if it improved the quality of the side, saying that "to play for Juventus you have got to be of a certain quality. We can't think of signing players who reduce the quality of the squad."

Of course, players of a certain quality won't keep easily, nor cheaply. But Allegri says that maintaining a spot in Italy's elite requires constant vigilance in roster building.

"We need players who can lift it, but there aren't many of them around and those who there are will not be sold by their clubs," he admitted. "After last season, if we want to stay up there it's going to be the minor details which make the difference and I'm referring to one or two new additions.

"The club knows who I am referring to."

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