The European media seem determined to ram home the point that Axel Witsel has turned down the Merseyside pair of Liverpool and Everton.
On Tuesday it is the turn of Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. They explain that Witsel has turned down the money of ‘rich’ Everton and a ‘last minute’ attempt by Liverpool to sign him.
The pesky English clubs are said to have been something of an irritant for Juventus, who would quite like to sign the player on the cheap. Zenit, at this stage, want €25m for 27 year old Witsel.
Juventus have only made an offer of €18m, which seems a little cheeky. For comparison, if the Paul Pogba to Manchester United deal is really worth €120m, it would mean Juve have offered less than a sixth of that for Witsel.
The Turin club are prepared to walk away from a Witsel deal if they don’t get him for the money they want. Blaise Matuidi is also said to be of interest, as are Luis Gustavo, Moussa Sissoko and Nemanja Matic. It’s claimed Bastian Schweinsteiger has been offered.
English attempts to sign Witsel have often been overstated and that’s almost certainly the case here, but at least it lets the European media point out what a presumably miserable destination England is. Again.
