Witsel explains how he nearly joined Real Madrid
Borussia Dortmund's Axel Witsel says Real Madrid considered him in 2012, but the Spanish capital club chose to sign Luka Modric instead.
| Axel Witsel while playing for Zenit. | Photo: Вячеслав Евдокимов/fc-zenit.ru/CC-by-SA 3.0 |
Before his switch to the Bundesliga, the 29-year-old had never played in one of Europe's biggest leagues. However, back in 2012, he was close to a move to the Spanish La Liga as he was considered by Real Madrid - but the Spanish capital club opted to sign Luka Modric from Tottenham instead.
"There were talks, but they decided to bring in a different player back then. If I remember correctly, it was Luka Modric. He had more experience. I had just played my first year at Benfica in Lisbon, and I then joined Zenit instead," Witsel said in an interview with Reviersport.
Later on, after spending four seasons in Russia at Zenit St. Petersburg, Witsel was nearing a move to Italy. Juventus were ready to sign him, but the deal was called off by Zenit at the last moment.
"In the summer of 2016, I had the opportunity to go to Juventus. It was on the day of the transfer deadline, everything was already setthled, and I flew to Turin. Then, Zenit St. Petersburg, my club at the time, called me and stopped everything," Witsel explained.
Instead, Witsel spent half a season more at Zenit before he was persuaded to join Tianjin Quanjian in China.
"No European club would be able to match the offer I got from China. It was hard to refuse," the 29-year-old admits.
Witsel ended up making 47 appearances for Tianjin Quanjian before he made the move to Germany.
