Borussia Dortmund midfielder Axel Witsel has revealed moving to the Bundesliga club was the ‘best career decision’ he has ever made.
The Belgium international made the move to the German giants after Dortmund agreed upon a deal with Chinese outfit Tianjin Quanjian this summer.
Dortmund are currently top of the Bundesliga with 27 points, undefeated, and having recently beaten Bayern Munich 3-2 – with two goals from Marco Reus and a winner scored by Paco Alcacer – things couldn’t be better for the club.
Speaking to reporters, Witsel has heaped praise upon his decision to make the move from the Chinese Super League to Germany in August, citing that he has never played with such a talented group of players in his entire career.
“Switching to BVB was the best career decision I’ve ever made,” Witsel said to Bild.
“I have never played with better players than here.
“Besides, the location is ideal. My family and I are now in close proximity to our homeland.”
Which teams has Axel Witsel turned down in the past?
A man of Witsel’s talents has naturally caught the attention of some of the world’s biggest clubs.
In November 2016, Witsel was quoted saying: “I’ll join Juventus. That will be the case. Right now I don’t know when.”
However, Witsel turned reportedly turned down the opportunity to join Serie A’s biggest name following a bumper offer made by his now former club Tianjin Quanjian. The then Zenit star admitted the allure of the financial package offered by the Chinese club was too good an offer to turn down.
“It was a very difficult decision because on one hand there was a great team and a top club like Juventus.
“But on the other, there was a crucial offer for my family that I couldn’t turn down.”
Around the same time, Witsel was also linked with Premier League big-boys Chelsea but even with Roman Abramovic’s riches, they couldn’t persuade the player to make the move to England’s capital.
They weren’t the only Premier League club to make an effort to sign the star. Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United made an effort to bring Witsel to Old Trafford this summer.
Paul Stefani, the player’s agent, confirmed this but revealed that he wanted his client to sign for Dortmund instead.
“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’.”
Shockingly, even Stoke City, under then-manager Mark Hughes, did their best to tempt Witsel into joining the then-Premier League club.
Maxim Mitrofanov, the Zenit General Director, said at the time: “There was an offer from the Stoke City. They offered about €15-16 million.”
Oh, how they could do with him now.
The post Axel Witsel: Joining Borussia Dortmund was my best career decision ever appeared first on Squawka News.
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