The situation
Atletico has found in Axel Witsel its reinforcement for the pivot … without the need to negotiate a transfer. The rojiblanco club is facing a difficult summer economically and, still without sales, the accounts do not come out to enter bids for players on the market. And the priority is to strengthen on the right side, the most weakened position with the departure of Trippier in January. For this reason, the mattress set was launched to try to get the services of Boubakar Kamara , who had all the requirements to be a great addition: good, young and cheap, since he was a free agent after not renewing with Olympique de Marseille . Finally, Aston Villa won the game (the fourteenth in the Premier League enjoys greater financial capacity than the third in LaLiga) and Atlético had to find a plan B to compete with Kondogbia and reinforce the engine room without leaving an important investment for it. And also as a market opportunity, the figure of Witsel appeared, precisely the player that Marseille wanted to replace Kamara . In the case of the Belgian, as a player seasoned in a thousand battles (33 years old) and after four years as a key player at Borussia Dortmund, where only a ruptured Achilles tendon took him out of the German team’s schemes (104 games played).
The details
Witsel concentrated on offers, but has opted for the rojiblanca with the desire for one last great European challenge and with the figure of Someone from the bench, who has always known how to get the most out of those veteran footballers with aspirations to prove their worth. In an increasingly common trend in the summer markets of all leagues, Atlético gets a free player by negotiating directly with his representatives the conditions for his arrival and without the need to process a transfer with a club of origin. Witsel will become the ninth Atletico signing through this formula in the Simeone era. Reinildo and Wass could also be , after agreeing to join the club this June as free agents, but Atlético agreed with Lille and Valencia, respectively, on a minimum payment to advance their arrival in January.