Report: Witsel could have joined Schalke 04
Apparently, Borussia Dortmund's Axel Witsel could have ended up at Schalke 04 years ago.
Today, Axel Witsel is a much appreciated member of Borussia Dortmund's squad. However, it turns out that he nearly joined Schalke 04 - the BVB's arch rivals - back in 2011.
According to Bild, former Schalke 04 sporting director Horst Heldt wanted to bring Witsel to Gelsenkirchen when the midfielder played for Standard Liege. Ralf Rangnick - at the time the coach of Schalke 04 - was also pleased about Witsel, but 'The Royal Blues' hesitated.
Schalke rather wanted to rely on local talent at the time, and there were high expectations for Lewis Holtby who returned after a strong loan spell at Mainz.
Unfortunately for Schalke, the current Hamburger SV player never managed to live up to the expectations at the Veltins-Arena, and he was sold to Tottenham for just €1,75 million in 2013.
Meanwhile, Witsel joined Benfica for €9 million instead, and after spending just one season in Portugal, the Belgian international was sold to Zenit St. Petersburg for a staggering €40 million.