Benfica have won the race to sign Axel Witsel, beating off reported interest from Arsenal and several other Premier League outfits.
Earlier this summer, the 22-year-old Belgian midfielder expressed his desire to leave Standard Liege and has evidently been granted his wish by agreeing to join the Portuguese club.
Arsenal, along with Manchester United and Blackburn, were all believed to be monitoring Witsel’s situation. However, despite interest from the Gunners and United, the talented youngster chose Benfica as his preferred destination.
This move may have surprised a few Gooners and possibly Wenger himself, as the player’s father, Thierry Witsel, told Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport in the past that joining Arsenal would be his son’s dream move:
‘I personally hope that this was his last season with Standard as he needs to grow and to do it he needs to leave the country.’
‘He doesn’t have a specific target but he has a dream and it’s called Arsenal, but this doesn’t mean that he’s not open to other clubs.’
Liege have not yet revealed the transfer fee received for Witsel, but it is thought to be in the region of around £8 million.
I cannot comment on how strong Arsenal’s interest was in the Belgian international. But, assuming that we were looking to acquire him this summer, then I can only suggest two reasons why we failed to land him:
1. We were unprepared to splash the cash (yes I know, £8 million is not much)
Or
2. Arsene Wenger simply didn’t move quickly enough to secure his services.
In any case, Witsel will not be at Arsenal next season.
Let’s just hope that our other summer targets don’t slip through our fingers.
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It as taking me some huge time to think but now i have come to me senses i will kill any arsenal player that messes up our up-coming season..i swear with Allah name to bomb the own bus if possible.Please warn any player to leave now that they all have the time.THANKS
tosser
It is hard for Arsenal to attract top players … unless they are youngsters eager to be trained up by us.
> There is the problem of our wages structure in which (say) Van Persie gets no more than £90K while (say) Denilson gets as much as £60K.
> Furthermore top players don’t want or don’t need to go to a club which is seen to be unstable and quite possibly on the slide.
Sad isn’t it …
@ Aly muhammed – Its immature people like you that give Muslims and Arsenal a bad name.
Kepp your mouth shut!!!!
All AW needs to do is buy a CB and we are sorted. Yes AW has won us trophies before but 6 years is too long for any manager, the most annoying thing is that we could have dominated in the last 6 years only if AW did the simple things right!!!
Another season comes and NO CB arrives! How blind can one man be? Really!
We do not know him……..enjoy ur stay at benfica.
I am dissappointed in you, Mr Blogger…did arsenal have a bid rejected by standard for axel?better yet,did any standard official say that arsenal has made an enquiry for axel? Where did you that we were interested in axel? How can we be so sure,we wanted him? How can you be sure that Arsene wants to sign the kind of character he hates, you obviously don’t know anything about the Belgian league in general or Axel Witsel in particular…and every day you crucify Ryan Shawcross
If you actually read the article again or properly, you will see that I said I mention that I can’t specualte on the strength of this rumour. I only state two possible scenarios why we ‘probably’ didn’t sign him. And I do know about the horror tackle he did mate, but he’s not a Shawcross type player as you suggest.
Anyway this doesn’t matter anymore as he is a Benfica player now.
Cheers
And contrary to what everybody thinks, i think we need to sign just maybe just two players,even if cesc leaves…we dont have to replace him,cos simple put…no one is good enough to…Djorou and Kocielny are individually better than Cahill or Samba. All we really need is a very defensive minded midfielder and maybe a centre back to take care of this Vermaelen sometimes playing Left back affair
Bloody Benfica. Beating us off all the time.
@kuffman,hw can u say koscieny n djorou(of all people) is better than cahill n samba.i used 2 support arsenal bt nt anymore for 2 reasons:1.wenger frustrated me 2.arsenal fans have a general belief that their players r d best e.g.djourou better than cahill.so…i hv joined chelsea
I don’t buy this idea that cahill is some great player. Bolton conceded many more goals than arsenal, including more goals from corners. Arsenal’s major problem has been the disproportionate number of penalties we have conceded. Of course bolton’s poorer defense is not all Cahill’s fault, but it seems to me he is a very good defender *on his day*, ie he lacks consistency still.
This is the closest thing Djourou has ever had to a full season in the 1st team of any club, certainly as a CB, and he performed no worse than Cahill, and IMO a lot better overall. He lost his form at the end of the season after suffering the dislocated shoulder, which was disappointing, but if it weren’t for that I think we would all be in agreement he is a very good defender.
There is a little something still lacking from Djourou, but he’s not playing any worse than cahill currently and, given that he’s had significantly less 1st team football, I think it’s fair to he’s a more worthwhile player to have in the squad than Cahill.
Btw, you were upset that other FANS have, in your eyes, unrealistic thoughts about the team, so you switched clubs!? That’s pretty pathetic man. Couldn’t you just form your own opinions separately while still supporting the same club? Or could your ego not take it that a lot of people disagree with you?
Have to agree with you Davi. No matter how hard times may be at the club, never turn your back on it
don’t think he is a top talent anyway, would have been underwhelming
i doubt we were after him meself