Bayern 'insisted' on Witsel transfer before Borussia Dortmund switch

OneFootball

Phil Costa·5 December 2018

Axel Witsel has revealed that Bayern Munich “insisted” on signing him a year before his move to Borussia Dortmund.

The Belgian was playing for Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian at the time and Carlo Ancelotti got in touch over a possible move.

OneFootball Videos

However, Bayern opted to sign Corentin Tolisso instead, allowing Witsel to join their Klassiker rivals one season later.

“Mr Ancelotti insisted on a transfer with Fabio Cannavaro, my former coach at Tianjin,” he told Sportbild.

“But Fabio told him relatively quickly that he would not let me go and that I would be staying in China.

“It didn’t work out but that’s fine because Dortmund was a challenge which I absolutely wanted to accept.”

Witsel has been a standout performer in the Bundesliga this season with coach Lucien Favre already labelling him “different class”.