Axel Witsel at a press conference in Tubize, this is an image to which we were no longer accustomed. The “newcomer” of Domenico Tedesco’s selection spoke about his return.
Here it is again Axel Witsel ! A year after announcing his international retirement, the Atlético Madrid player finally responded to Domenico Tedesco’s call to come and strengthen the central defense of the Red Devils. “I recognize everyone, it’s always the same faces,” says Witsel straight away in the Tubize auditorium, before recounting how he returned to the selection against all odds.
“I saw the coach about a month ago, at the beginning of May. He contacted me and said he needed to see. I understood straight away, well sure,” he begins. “We had a great feeling, the desire was there on both sides and so I agreed to come back.”
Good contact with Tedesco
Officially, Axel Witsel had been retired since May 2023, after the disappointment of not being included in Tedesco’s first selection. “Maybe I made my decision a little quickly,” concedes the Colchonero. “That’s life, that’s how it is. We couldn’t have predicted that I was going to have such a season. But I’m really happy to be back.”
During the season, the idea of Witsel returning often came up. “I remained open to it, people often spoke to me about it after Champions League matches and I said that if the coach called me, I was open. That ended up being the case and here I am.”
One thing is certain: Axel retains “no resentment” towards Domenico Tedesco. “I have no resentment and no feeling of revenge. The coach wanted to look me in the eyes and see if I still had this desire. When you meet someone, you feel very quickly if the feeling passes and it was the case. We talked for a good hour, we said everything, but it will stay between us (smile).
And now, there is no question of drawing plans on the comet. “I didn’t want to end on a negative note, that would have been a shame. But now, I no longer think about the future, I won’t say anything (laughs). Above all, I’m going to make the most of it, because it will be my 6th great tournament. It’s beautiful to experience these kinds of moments, it’s rare in a career and you have to be able to take advantage of it.”
