Arsenal ‘knocked on the door’ to try and sign Axel Witsel earlier in his career, according to the player’s father, while the Gunners are Witsel’s ‘favourite team’ as well.
Witsel has had an eventful career, playing in his native Belgium, Portugal, Russia, China and then Germany. He has won trophies with the likes of Benfica, Zenit St Petersburg and Borussia Dortmund.
The central midfielder left Dortmund in July, following the expiry of his contract there. Atletico Madrid acted quickly to snap him up on a free transfer, with Witsel penning a one-year contract in the Spanish capital.
He made his debut for the club in the 3-0 La Liga victory over Getafe, playing a full 90 minutes. Witsel has gone on to make nine appearances for Atleti in all competitions this season, though he is yet to register a goal.
The Belgian’s free transfer to Atleti saw him take a different approach to his previous moves. Several clubs have spent big money on Witsel in the past, most notably Zenit.
As per transfermarkt, they parted with £36million to capture him from Benfica in September 2012.
Arsenal could have spent big money on Witsel in a previous transfer window, according to the star’s father Thierry.
During an interview with Belgian newspaper HBvL, Thierry was asked if his son had any regrets. He spoke about Juventus trying to complete a deal and also revealed Arsenal submitted a proposal, with the Gunners being Witsel’s ‘favourite team’.
Juventus, Arsenal hoped to sign Axel Witsel
“I can name a series, you know,” Thierry said (via Sport Witness). “Juventus failed in the last hours of a transfer market.
“But when he was still playing for Standard, Arsenal knocked on the door. That was his favourite team, but it didn’t come to a deal.
“Before that – with the youth – Anderlecht, Ajax and even Real Madrid enquired. Although I wanted Axel to continue playing football close to home in Liege. Regret is not necessary for anything.”
Witsel would have adapted quickly to the language, had he moved to the Premier League. That’s because Thierry believes his son integrates well wherever he goes.
“He’s the Columbus of football, isn’t he,” Thierry added. “It is an atypical course in fiery clubs. What makes me proud is that Axel always had the courage to take on the adventure.
“Okay, he earned well, but go to Russia or China, hey. That is not so obvious. Yet every country was an enrichment and he integrated well everywhere.
“In Lisbon he spoke Portuguese quickly, he understands Russian, tried to learn Chinese, knows German and already speaks Spanish.”
The report doesn’t reveal when Arsenal tried to sign Witsel, or why the transfer failed to go through.
Perhaps he was targeted as a potential backup to Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey in the centre of the pitch. After all, Partey has had plenty of injury problems since moving to the Emirates.
Instead, though, Witsel will help Atleti this season as they aim to get back to the summit of the Spanish top flight. Diego Simeone’s men are currently 5th, six points behind leaders Barcelona.
Meanwhile, an Arsenal player says contract discussions are underway amid three clubs trying to sign him during the summer.
