Tottenham reportedly want ‘unbelievable’ star, he left Vertonghen ‘blown away’

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Tottenham have reportedly thrown their hat into the mix to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Axel Witsel, with his contract ending in June. A player, that Jan Vertonghen branded “unbelievable” just last year.

Witsel, 33, is about to see his four-year spell at Dortmund come to an end. The 120-time Belgium international has clocked up 145 appearances for the German outfit in that time, scoring 13 times and winning a German Cup.

Reports emerged earlier this week that Tottenham are now battling Manchester United in the race to sign the ex-Zenit and Benfica star. Antonio Conte wants depth in his midfield, ahead of a Champions League campaign.

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Witsel has shared international duty with Spurs icon Vertonghen for the last few years. The latter was full of praise for his teammate in 2021. Witsel joined Vertonghen at Euro 2020 last summer, but was an injury doubt.

Indeed, Witsel had been sidelined with an achilles issue for a while, but Roberto Martinez decided to include him in Belgium’s squad anyway. Vertonghen spoke of his surprise in 2021, at seeing him in such good shape.

“At first I didn’t know where Axel would be when he arrived here,” Vertonghen said, as per Then24. “But he blew me away with his physical preparedness. It’s unbelievable how he did it.

“I never expected that he would join in this form. He is training hard and you can see that he is also very advanced physically. I think he will play an important role for us,” Vertonghen continued, last year.

Vertonghen raved about Tottenham target Witsel in 2021, good signing?

While Witsel would not start week in, week out, he would be a very solid signing. Conte is renowned for preferring experienced players and Witsel certainly fits that mould; 738 appearances at senior, professional level.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur would remain first choice. But Harry Winks could go, and Oliver Skipp is continually suffering with an injury. So, signing Witsel would give Spurs the cover required, next season.