Thread by @bvbnewsblog

🎙 Thomas Meunier on Axel Witsel:

"I wouldn't say he's become unwanted in Dortmund. There are clubs where players are sent back to the B or C core and you don't hear from them anymore. They are given a hard time, etc."

🗞 @RTBF

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"What I like here at Borussia is that if you are correct with people, people are correct with you.  Axel has always behaved professionally and correctly towards the club. His adventure in Dortmund seems to be coming to an end, [...]"

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"Obviously, between us, we discuss his situation. Axel is well aware that he is now 33 years old and that there are guys like Jude Bellingham, Mo Dahoud or Emre Can who play in the same position as him and who are much younger and represent more the future of the club."

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"For all that, it seems complicated to me to see Witsel prolonged here in Dortmund. He is not sad, he knows the situation. After all, it's only six months in a career of 15 or 20 years as a professional player."

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"He is very conscientious, he trains every day and still plays matches. He's still available and the coach doesn't put him aside because he brings him into the game almost systematically. He is still part of the group and is not left out."

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"At 33, I think Axel is still a good player and I think that leaving Dortmund as a free agent will open doors for him. With Thorgan and Axel, we read this article which mentions a rumour of a possible return to Standard. We laughed about it together!"

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"Now Axel is a real Liège man. So, at some point, he might say to himself: 'There's a real project at Standard, I'd like to be part of it, to coach the youngsters and make my contribution and help Standard come back to life a bit'. That's something he could totally do."

#BVB

"But he still wants to play football in ambitious teams that can make a difference in the European Cup and so on. I think Standard is not really in that situation at the moment. So I don't see Axel signing a contract with Liège in the immediate future."

#BVB