Report: Juventus to submit final bid for Julian Draxler to Schalke

It is now officially been over a month since reports surfaced saying Juventus was interested in signing talented Schalke midfielder Julian Draxler. It was in the midst of the collective freakout regarding Arturo Vidal's eventual departure, so maybe it doesn't seem like it was all too long ago. But, truth be told, a month of Draxler talk has gone by without much anything outside of paper chatter and a few quotes from either side actually happening.

The initial rush was exactly that. Now, however, as the Supercoppa has come and gone without much of anything going on, negotiations haven't really progressed all that much based on everything we've heard. Juventus, for as much as they reportedly want Draxler to be part of the squad come the end of the transfer window, haven't exactly given in to the demands Schalke have.

About those negotiations, though...

Juventus will present a final offer of €18m + €9m bonus to sign Schalke winger Julian Draxler in the coming days, according to Gazzetta.

— Khaled Al Nouss (@KhaledAlNouss) August 17, 2015

Okay, so Juventus' offer is getting closer from a overall transfer standpoint, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport. I guess they are? Maybe, but is that the kind of offer that will blow Schalke away? Nope. It's pretty certain at this point that Juventus want a large portion of their Draxler transfer bid to built around him reaching concrete conditions in the contract. Like, say, appearances considering he hasn't had the best of health history lately.

But here's the catch: Schalke don't want the €15 million or €18 million plus whatever the bonuses are. It's a flat fee, preferably as close to their €30 million price tag as possible, and that would be that. It's far and away from what Juventus are willing to offer from a base transfer fee standpoint. Basically Juventus will continue to get their offers turned down unless they pony up with the actual transfer fee and not make the final price so dependent on appearance bonuses.

As much as Draxler reportedly agreeing to personal terms may have helped from a player-Juventus point of view, the Schalke-Juventus angle — the most important one when it comes to this deal — isn't close to being on the same page.

If this is the final offer and Schalke turns it down, maybe this will mean Juventus will go for Erik Lamela. Or maybe they will go for Christian Eriksen. Or maybe Isco. Or maybe Riccardo Saponara. Or maybe Franco Vázquez. Or maybe they'll just play Simone Padoin as a trequartista. Who knows, man.