Axel Witsel reveals Bayern Munich tried to sign him | OneFootball

Last week new Borussia Dortmund man Axel Witsel revealed Manchester United wanted to sign him this summer, and now he has another revelation for us.

Witsel recently moved to the Westfalenstadion from Tianjin Quanjian in a deal worth a reported €20m.

But the Belgian midfielder says he could have moved to the Bundesliga last year, when Bayern Munich made an enquiry about his availability.

“They did not call me but spoke to my former coach Fabio Cannavaro, and he kindly and politely told Carlo Ancelotti that it was not possible,” Witsel told Bild.

However 12 months down the line, the Chinese Super League side were unable to prevent Witsel from leaving due to an opt-out clause in his contract, and the 29-year-old could make his BVB debut against Greuther Fürth in the DFB-Pokal on 20 August.

“I feel good, I have been training intensively during my holidays and I have been resting for three weeks,” said the midfielder, who was part of the Belgium squad which made it as far as the World Cup semi-final this summer in Russia.

“Of course I’ll need one or two games before hoping to be 100 percent,” he added.

Having previously played in Belgium, Portugal, Russia and China, Germany will be the fifth country of Witsel’s nomadic career, and he says the Bundesliga is on a par with any league in the world.

“For me, the level in the Bundesliga is not worse than in England, it’s the same,” he said.

“Maybe they have more media attention in England, but the level is the same.”