Just because signing Axel Witsel eluded Juventus’ management in August doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a certainty that the club is going to move on and dump whatever chance they had to acquire him into the river. That shouldn’t necessarily be any kind of surprise knowing that the dude was chilling at Juventus’ headquarters for 13 hours as he waited for his deal with Zenit to happen. (Secret’s out: It didn’t happen.)
According to Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio, just because Juve’s deal for Witsel in August isn’t going to prevent them from trying to sign the Belgian midfielder come the next transfer window. As is well known by now, Witsel’s contract with Zenit St. Petersburg is set to expire after the 2016-17 season, which will allow the 27-year-old to leave Russia on a free transfer. Juventus director general Beppe Marotta certainly does have an affinity for acquiring quality players for next to nothing, too.
Sounds like a match, right?
Whether it’s in a deal for January or a deal in January for the summer of 2017, Witsel is going to cost a fraction of what he would have during the recently-closed summer transfer window. Juventus’ offer was reportedly between €18 million and €20 million with a few extra million euros tacked on in easily-obtainable performance bonuses. Do you think Witsel is going to cost that much in January with only a couple months left on his contract? Nope, not at all.
Juventus has done something like this in the not-so-recent past. Remember when a deal for Fernando Llorente fell through in the summer and come January it was being announced that he was arriving on a free transfer? Yeah, the same kind of thing could very well take place with Witsel in about four months.
The longer the wait, the bigger the reward. Life goes on. ✌
— Axel Witsel (@axelwitsel28) September 1, 2016
Oh, Axel. You’re gonna look like so much of a bargain when you arrive for free next summer. And it will be glorious. Yes, so, so glorious.