Atletico Madrid have just confirmed the sigining of the Belgian international Wtisel.
The 33-year-old Belgian midfielder arrives on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund, following four seasons back in the Bundesliga.
After reportedly losing out on Boubacar Kamara to Aston Villa, Diego Simeone will have instead have a veteran with many years of experience to plug a gap in midfield.
The club announced his signing on Wednesday afternoon and were keen to point that out, mentioning he arrives with over 600 games to his name. Part of Belgium’s golden generation, Witsel has also been a fixture in international football, earning 124 caps for the Red Devils.
It is said that Simeone was keen to have another anchoring midfielder at his disposal for next season. With Hector Herrera departing, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Rodrigo de Paul, Saul Niguez and Koke Resurreccion were the only natural central midfielders at his disposal. Witsel will no doubt add some steel to department that perhaps El Cholo felt was a little lightweight during last year’s disappointing campaign.
The club wrote:
Our new midfielder will bring a lot of experience, as he has played more than 600 official games.
Axel Witsel is already a new Atleti player after the agreement reached between our club and the Belgian player, who signs for one season.
The midfielder took his first steps in professional football with Standard Liege, a club he joined when he was just 9 years old and where he made his professional debut in the 2006/07 season. His good performances opened the door for Benfica, where he joined in the 2011/12 season and from where he left for St. Petersburg to sign for Zenit the following season.
After 180 appearances in five seasons, Witsel signed for Chinese side Tianjin Tianhai before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2018, where he became a mainstay of the German side, making 145 appearances.
The Belgian, capped 124 times by the Red Devils, has won trophies at every European club he has played for: two league titles (2007/08 and 2008/09), two Belgian Supercups (2008/09 and 2009/10) and a Belgian Cup (2011) with Standard Liege; a League Cup with Benfica (2011/12), a Russian Premier League (2015), a Russian Cup (2016) and two Russian Supercups (2015/16 and 2016/17) with Zenit and a German Cup (2020/21) and a German Supercup (2019/20) with Borussia Dortmund.
Witsel is a midfielder who stands out for his physical deployment and good ball handling. He is a player who, due to his size, has a great ability to dominate aerial play and to fight for the ball in the air with his opponents.
In this way our club acquires the services of a player with extensive experience, as during his long career he has played more than 600 official matches at club level, 77 of which correspond to the Champions League and 42 to the Europa League, as well as having participated with Belgium in two World Cups (2014 and 2018) and two European Championships (2016 and 2020).
Welcome, Axel!