Official | Atlético Madrid complete the signing of Axel Witsel on free transfer

Atlético Madrid have announced the signing of Axel Witsel.

The Belgium international joins on an initial one-year deal with the option for a further year.

After four seasons with Borussia Dortmund, the midfielder, who has played over 600 games in his career, joins Diego Simeone’s side ahead of the new La Liga campaign.

At 33 years of age, Witsel joins Atlético to fill the void left by the departure of Mexico midfielder Héctor Herrera.

He has played for five different teams in his career: Standard Liege (2006-11), Benfica (2011-12), Zenit (2012-17), Tianjin Quanjian (2017-18) and, since 2018, Dortmund. However, it is with his national team that he has shone the most.

Witsel’s performances for Belgium in major tournaments have put him in the spotlight on countless occasions. He is a permanent fixture for Roberto Martínez and is aiming for the World Cup in Qatar, precisely one of the reasons why he was chosen by Atlético.

The need to compete at the highest level has led the midfielder to choose Atleti over other clubs that offered him more financially.

He becomes the fourth Belgian to play for the Spanish side.

GSFN

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