Tianjin adamant Witsel stays amid Dortmund link
BERLIN — Borussia Dortmund appears to have suffered a setback in its quest to sign midfielder Axel Witsel from Tianjin Quanjian.
Dortmund is reportedly eager to activate a 20-millioneuro ($23.2m) buy-out clause in Witsel’s contract, but Quanjian head coach Paulo Sousa poured cold water on a potential transfer with the Belgian World Cup star’s deal to run until December 2019.
“I haven’t received any information on Witsel’s transfer, neither from the club nor the player himself,” Sousa told Chinese broadcaster CGTN.
“It is my understanding that the player may have a transfer clause in his contract, but the clause could only be triggered during the transfer window.
“Now that the Chinese transfer window has closed (on July 12), the transfer won’t happen.
“I’m convinced that Witsel will be back. He is an integral part of our team.”
Quanjian owner Shu Yuhui echoed Sousa’s stance in a later interview with Tianjin media, saying: “Witsel will return (to China) on August 5.”
According to German reports, Witsel is currently on holiday on the Spanish island of Ibiza and is reportedly eager to join Bundesliga side Dortmund, which has qualified for this season’s Champions League.
The deal seemed set to be wrapped up on Monday when Belgian broadcaster RTBF claimed the 29-year-old, who helped Belgium finish third at the World Cup, was already in Dortmund for a medical, which turned out to be false.
However, German newspaper Bild still expects Witsel to become a Dortmund player in the coming days.
Witsel, who began his career with his hometown team Standard Liege before stints with Benfica and Zenit Saint Petersburg, joined Quanjian in January 2017.
New head coach Lucien Favre is reportedly eager to include him in a new-look Dortmund midfield alongside Germany midfielder Julian Weigl and new signing Thomas Delaney, who has joined from Werder Bremen.
Quanjian on Wednesday lost 4-1 to Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League, with Brazilian Oscar bagging a brace.
On Thursday, Jonathan Soriano’s hat-trick helped earn Beijing Guo’an a 6-3 win over Chris Coleman’s Hebei China Fortune to ensure Roger Schmidt’s side reached the halfway point in this year’s CSL in pole position.
“We’re just the halfway champion, which means nothing over the whole season,” said former Bayer Leverkusen boss Schmidt.
“We have 15 games left and we should focus on that.”
Former Wales manager Coleman, whose previous job with Sunderland ended in relegation to England’s third tier, is yet to win a match at Langfang-based Hebei since taking the reins in early June.