Julian Draxler was formed at Schalke 04, making his senior debut in 2011 and going on to 171 competitive appearances and 30 goals for the club. He joined VfL Wolfsburg in 2015 for around 36 million euros and moved to Paris Saint-Germain in January 2017 for a reported 42 million euros. He was part of the Germany squad that won the 2014 World Cup.

Having become peripheral at PSG, Draxler joined Benfica on transfer deadline day, 1 September 2022, on a season-long loan with a reported fee of around 2.5 million euros. He made his Primeira Liga debut nine days later and scored his first goal on 18 September 2022 in a 5-0 home win.

Deployed by Roger Schmidt as an attacking midfielder and on the left, he featured regularly in the first half of a campaign in which Benfica won the Primeira Liga title and reached the Champions League quarter-finals, though injury and competition limited his impact after the winter break. The loan was not made permanent and he returned to PSG before joining Al Ahli of Qatar in September 2023.