Witsel bet on Tianjin Quanjian’s Chinese side when he helped Belgium finish third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but the preference to be closer to his circle of family has put some of Europe’s most sensible groups on red alert.
Dortmund is one of them, and the 30-year-old says he didn’t want much conviction to move to Signal Iduna Park.
“[Sporting director] Michael Zorc made the touch first, followed by [coach] Lucien Favre,” Witsel recalled in an interview with spox. com.
“I had other offers, I may have gone to Paris or Manchester, but I felt it was Dortmund’s first target and it’s vital to have a smart feeling when you move to a new club. After conversations with Zorc, Favre and [CEO] Hans-Joachim Watzke, I made my decision.
“Dortmund is a very smart club and I looked to sign for a very smart club because at 29 maybe it was my last chance. “
It’s an opportunity Witsel has seized with his hands. The former executor of Standard Liège, Benfica, Zenit St. Petersburg and Tianjin scored on his Bundesliga debut in August 2018 and made 33 appearances as Dortmund missed out on a top league name since 2012 by a two-point margin.
The Belgian averaged 85 touches consistent with the game and recorded a good fortune rate of 94. 4% (the latter is the best in the league for a midfielder) and picked up where he left off on the first day of the new season by registering two assists in the BVB table. . -the defeat of Augsburg.
“I hate wasting the ball,” Witsel said of his philosophy.
“If I hand over the ball two or three times in a game, it’s too much. It drives me crazy after the game and I wonder why it happened. “
“I’ve been like that, but I try to stay cool during the game. That’s my style. “
Watch: How Axel Witsel shakes up Borussia Dortmund
However, Witsel has not been as calm, calm and collected as he is now.
“I used to cry when I came home from education because my father loved me,” recalled No. 28 Dortmund on his adolescence at Standard Liege.
“It’s not simple at 16 or 17. There are things you couldn’t do with your friends. All the training, then the school, was difficult, but I liked it.
“I don’t forget to tell my father when we passed by the stadium in Liège one day that I was going to play there one day. He said I would have to work hard and stay in myself to achieve my dream, but he painted outside. . “
After serving in 2007, Witsel spent five years at Liège, winning two Jupiler League titles, before joining Benfica.
The 2007/08 Belgian Player of the Year gained some reputation as a pair after trading Portugal’s record of champions for Russian side Zenit after one season in the summer of 2012 and moving to Tianjin in China in January 2017, but says he can stay in Dortmund for a long time. in your 30s
“You can’t plan your career,” said Witsel, who “could have gone to Real Madrid” before signing for Zenit.
“I imagined staying at Benfica for five years, but I stayed for a year.
“Having said that, when I arrived in Dortmund, I already had a plan in mind. I signed a 4-year contract and I need to be at BVB for 4 years, even longer.
“I’ve never met a team with so many talented young players, and after traveling so much, it’s the right time for my circle of family and I to stay in one place. “
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