Axel Witsel

[King Binny]

L'Equipe and Sudpresse are reporting that PSG have placed a €40m bid for Axel Witsel from Zenit St Petersburg (contracted till 2017).

http://www.sudinfo.be/745481/articl...s-au-zenit-l-interet-du-psg-pour-witsel-est-p

12.01.1989
24 years old
Belgium
186 cm
73 kg

Russian Premier League 2012/2013 Statistics

It's an astronomic amount, despite PSG's wealth. What kind of midfield player is he actually? DM, CM or AM?

It's worth noting that Zenit St Petersburg fans don't like him (or rather the idea of black or gay players)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/dec/17/zenit-st-petersburg-fan-group

The largest fan group of Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg has demanded the club refrain from buying black and gay players.

"We're not racists but we see the absence of black players at Zenit as an important tradition," Zenit fan club Landscrona said in a letter, called the "Selection 12 manifesto", posted on its website on Monday.

"It would allow Zenit to maintain the national identity of the club, which is the symbol of St Petersburg."

Zenit have been the only top club in Russia to have never signed an African player while the northern city of St Petersburg is known to have a strong right-wing nationalist influence.

The fans said they want more home-grown or European players in the team. "We only want players from other brotherly Slav nations, such as Ukraine and Belarus as well as from the Baltic states and Scandinavia. We have the same mentality and historical and cultural background as these nations," the letter said.

They also expressed their opposition to having "sexual minorities" in the team. Several prominent black players have turned down lucrative offers from the wealthy club over the past 12 months after receiving death threats from Zenit fans. A Zenit spokesman said on Monday the club would not comment on the fans' letter.

Zenit have been in turmoil for the past few months with several senior players unhappy after the wealthy club splashed out more than £60m on the Brazil forward Hulk and Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel just before the transfer deadline.

 

[Dirkus_Circus]

"We're not racists but..."

 

[BlitzAce]

This guy is a class act! He's more of a CM in the Schweinsteiger mold, like Schweinsteiger he began life as a winger playing for Standard Liege I remember him playing against us where he was excellent. When he signed for Benfica they used him as a CM and since then his talent has really shone through before finally signing or Zenit. 40m euros seems really steep for him but believe me he's worth it! I wish we had that much money to spend on him.

 

[keniget]

Every time I see his name I just think of that foul.