Felix Magath Hints At Professional Debut For Schalke Wunderkind Julian Draxler

Julian Draxler could earn his professional debut this weekend as Schalke take on Hamburg.
Ever since bypassing the Schalke reserves as he earned a call-up to the first team squad, Julian Draxler has turned heads in Gelsenkirchen. The 17-year-old attacking midfielder is so highly rated by coach Felix Magath that he could even earn his professional debut on Saturday as die Knappen face Hamburg.

"[Draxler] prevails against professionals he only knew from television before, and is accepted by them already," Magath told der Westen. "Now our viewers will also get to enjoy it."

Earlier reports from Express revealed that Magath recently had discussions with Draxler's parents to discuss a career plan. He recommended that the player postpone his studies in the short term to focus fully on football.

Since calling up Draxler to train with Schalke's first team during the winter break, Magath has been full of praise. Rumour has it that the youngster will compete with with Jose Jurado for playing time.