Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel, who recently completed a transfer to Borussia Dortmund, had the opportunity to join Manchester United this summer, according to his agent Paul Stefani.
Witsel joins Dortmund having spent one season in China with Tianjin Quanjian in a deal worth a reported €20 million after the Bundesliga side triggered his release clause.
Stefani claims that Witsel chose a move to Dortmund over Manchester United and Serie A side Napoli. He has also made a bold claim that one of Jose Mourinho’s top summer transfer targets was Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante.
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Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, Witsel’s agent said: “We chatted for a moment, Axel says: ‘Maybe I want to leave China’. I say to him laughing: ‘Axel, I promise that I will come up with something really great!’
“I remembered that a few months earlier I had been to Dortmund, where I met someone from the club. I call that man and he brings me into contact with the management.
“Sports director Michael Zorc and CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke invited me to come and talk at a time when Axel was at the World Cup in Russia. There I heard that Dortmund were looking for a player like Witsel.
“I explained to them that the Portuguese lawyer of Witsel has negotiated a buy-out clause of €20m with Tianjin. That sounded like music to them, because they thought that Tianjin would ask for an amount of around €60m for Axel. When the transfer later started rolling, the Chinese still tried to get out of that buyout clause, but it was conclusive.
“There were other candidates. Manchester United wanted him, Napoli too. But I told Axel, ‘At Dortmund you are the number one, at Manchester you are one of the many… and at Napoli too’.”
Jose Mourinho has already added Brazilian midfielder Fred to his squad this summer and it’s unclear whether Witsel was seen as an alternative. Stefani claims to have been informed that N’Golo Kante was a top target for United earlier in the transfer window.
“I know from a very good source that Mourinho said he wanted Witsel, but not in the first place. N’Golo Kante topped his list. Eventually, Axel said: ‘Do me a favour and finish it as quickly as possible because I really want to go to Dortmund’.”
Would Witsel have fitted in at Man United?
Former Shakhtar midfielder Fred is expected to line up alongside Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba in midfield for United this season, after the Brazilian signed for the Red Devils in a deal worth a reported £52m.
Matic is likely to be the deepest of the three players, occupying the holding midfield role that Witsel also sees as his preferred position.
Matic and Fred are expected to allow Pogba to take up a more advanced role in the team this season, with much riding on whether United can get the best out of the Frenchman, who demonstrated what he can do by assisting 10 Premier League goals last season.
It could be that at around €20m, Mourinho considered Witsel to be another player capable of giving Pogba the necessary freedom in his team.
The post Axel Witsel turned down Man Utd for Borussia Dortmund, says agent appeared first on Squawka News.
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