ZENIT HAVE ANNOUNCED that midfielder Axel Witsel has joined Chinese side Tianjin Quanjian.
The Belgium international said this week that he had received a lucrative proposal from the Chinese Super League that was too good for him and his family to turn down.
The Russian giants have since confirmed that Witsel will join newly promoted Tianjin, coached by former Italy star Fabio Cannavaro.
Witsel has put pen-to-paper on a five-year deal worth a reported €20 million a year.
“FC Zenit and Tianjin Quanjian have agreed a deal for the Belgian midfielder’s move away from St. Petersburg,” Zenit said via their official website.
Witsel had been expected to join Serie A Juventus, who have long-since courted the 27-year-old, before his head was turned by Tianjin’s offer.
“It was a very difficult decision because on one hand there was a great team and a top club like Juventus,” he said to Tuttosport.
“But on the other there was a crucial offer for my family that I couldn’t turn down.
“The leadership at Juventus have always behaved like gentlemen with me and I can only be grateful to them.
“I will cheer for Juventus and I hope they can win the Champions League. Then who knows, maybe one day in the future our paths will finally meet.”
Witsel follows Brazil international Oscar and former Manchester United and Juventus striker Carlos Tevez in moving to China’s top flight in the transfer window.
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I got clubs most improved player at under 12s surely I must be expectating a 6 figure salary in china
€14000 Euro is about 101k Chinese Yuan so you could probably earn that teaching English over there if you accepted an offer as a teacher. Can you afford to turn down a six figure sum like that?
if that lad is worth 20m a year, i am surely worth the avg industrial wage am i ?
I had trials with Monaghan Utd, EMFA, Home Farm Everton and Newcastle West AFC once upon a time like…….
@Liam Dunne: ah he is ☺ juventus will be delighted to hear about him cheering them on.
What a waste of talent, this is going to be. This kid can and should be playing for one of the great european sides. Instead he has gone to chase cash in the Chinese Football pub league
If someone came along and offered you insane money to go to china to to your everyday job,you wouldn’t be interested?
The only reason those European teams are great is because they have the financial clout to go out and buy the best players available to them. What’s happening now is a long overdue case of what goes around comes around.
He went to Zenit for a big wage also, this lad has always put money first!
He’ll be able to look after his family for generations. In 60 years time that will be more important than whether he played a game for an Italian or a Chinese team.
The epitome of the modern day footballer, this youngster. Here’s a player regularly in the first XI of a nation that spent about a year in the top 2 of the FIFA rankings, who has only ever played in the Belgian, Portuguese and Russian leagues. And now he’s off to China.
His ambition is questionable at best, and his love of vast wealth not under any doubt. He went to Zenit for 40 million, so his family can’t be short a few bob.
How long before Continho goes ….
Old news this
Really? He signed 2 hours ago.
Fair play to him. A couple of years in China on mega money and return back to Europe.