Atletico Madrid Closing In On Belgian Midfielder As Erik Ten Hag Reportedly Becomes Frustrated With Club Over De Jong

Written By Onyeka Daniel

With the start of the new season less than two months away, European clubs are already in full gear in terms of their transfer activities.

More Details

Spanish La Liga side, Atletico Madrid are reported to close to finalizing a deal for Belgium midfielder, Axel Witsel and the deal is expected to be completed in the next few days.

LATEST POSTS

Witsel has made over 120 appearances for his country since debuting as a teenager in 2008. He spent several seasons at Zenit in the Russian Premier League before playing two seasons in China.

He played for German side, Borussia Dortmund last season and he’s now a free agent after his desk with the club expired. The player was reportedly close to reaching a deal with French side, Marseille before the Los Rojiblancos, through their sporting director, Andrea Berta surged ahead to strike a deal.

Turkish side, Fenerbache and some MLS clubs were also interested but he looks to have chosen to move to Spain, where he will compete with Geoffrey Kondogbia for the defensive midfielder role.

At 33yrs, he brings with him loads of experience and he will sign a one year contract with an option for another year inserted into the contract. His arrival will push 19-year-old Javi Serrano further away from a first-team role and he could be loaned out to play regularly outside the club.

Witsel has made 41 appearances in all competitions for Dortmund in 2021/22 and scored twice in 29 Bundesliga games and he started 22 of those games.

Meanwhile…

Manchester United are having problem convincing Barcelona to lower their price for Netherlands midfielder, Frenkie De Jong as the deal drags on and it is starting to irritate their coachz Erik Ten Hag, who would like to have the player available earlier.

There is a difference of about €10 million between the two teams and the Blaugrana are reportedly considering the option of taking the player off the transfer market altogether, which will be a huge blow to the club.

Read Also: Bettitude Next Generation Star (Male): Jude Bellingham

Ten Hag is aware that his side’s budget is limited to around £120 million, but with Paul Pogba already out of the club, he wants a world class midfielder to compliment the likes of Fred and Scott Mctominay.

The player on his part is very calm about the situation as he has already stated that he would like to remain at the Camp Nou.

Do you have a story tip?
Kindly Email: keepup@bettitude.com

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube

(Marca and The Athletic)

Bookmark (0)

Please login to bookmark