Axel Witsel has surprised everyone in Belgium by becoming one of the key men in the country’s revival, national team coach Marc Wilmots has told Goal.
The midfielder, who is set to line up for Zenit Saint Petersburg in Wednesday night’s Champions League trip to Bayer Leverkusen, now boasts 54 caps for the Red Devils after overcoming widespread scepticism to cement a place in Wilmots’ side.
And the former Standard Liege and Schalke front man insists that Witsel is one of the most important players in a squad packed with world-renowned talent.
“I know Axel very well as he, like me, was at Standard Liege,” Wilmots told Goal.
“My first decision was to play him as the only holding midfielder. He always plays for the team and he has big qualities. He has been superb during the last two years, and he is one of the leaders of my team.
“We have Vincent Kompany in defence, but we needed a special player in midfield. I gave that task to Axel.”
“The media here in Belgium was very surprised about it, but with him the structure of my team was complete.”
