Apparently wanting to leave Zenit St Petersburg for a number of years, Axel Witsel seems likely to see his wish granted this summer.
At least, that’s what Gazzetta dello Sport say on Monday, opening an article on the midfielder with “one thing is sure: Witsel will leave Zenit”.
Napoli, who have been on the market for a new midfielder for the last month or so, are interested in the Belgian, who is currently on international duty with his country at the Euros, but they aren’t the only ones.
According to the pink newspaper, Manchester United have also taken a look at the possibility of signing the former Benfica star, and they have the upper hand, at least financially.
The 27-year-old is entering the last year of his contract on the 30th of June, yet Zenit are very much against his departure, trying to scare people off with a €30m (£25m) price tag.
If he is to leave, the Russian club will want to profit as much as possible from it, having spent £30m on him back in 2012, and United won’t be put off by £25m.
The player is also currently on £68k/week, which is above what Napoli are wanting to pay their new midfielder but is a wage the Premier League side wouldn’t think twice about handing a 27-year-old proven international.
Now we must assess whether this move is likely or not, and considering this is the first we’ve seen of this, we’re going to say that, for the time being, we wouldn’t get too excited just yet.
United have been linked with many players and never signed them, especially when clubs or players are trying to get more money or put pressure on certain parties to get negotiations done.
This could very well be the case this time around, and we’ll be keeping an eye on it for you.
