after playing just one year at benfica, witsel joined zenit st. petersburg in 2012, despite the interest of several big clubs (some rumours even said real madrid) from top european leagues.
this time the belgian international had an offer from juventus, who had been trying to sign him for months, but he rejects it and goes to china, choosing money over competition again.

he's 27 now, it's not like he's way past his prime or anything. is this guy the ultimate mercenary or do you know worse?

Yeah he's a mercenary

gold digger confirmed

In all seriousness the difference between the Chinese and Italian leagues is minimal. Makes sense to go for the higher paycheck imo.

Don't see anything wrong with taking the big bucks. His relatives and descendants will be thanking him for decades.

This post was edited by cambovenzi on Jan 2 2017 01:51pm

being offered x times the money for the same job - I don't see anything wrong with that tbh

They earn big bucks anyway though, so any footballer at the highest level should stay there if possible when in their prime years.

Yeah thats also a good point. Joining the best Italian team and beating up on nobodies isn't exactly the pinnacle of European football.


I'm a bigger fan of rational self interest. The difference in pay isnt minimal. Different strokes for different folks.

He'd be playing in the champions league which is technically the pinnacle of European football. Obviously he has the right to make that choice but i wouldn't want a player playing for my team with that attitude. It shows a certain lack of ambition, professionalism and love for the game.

It's not like he couldn't go to china in 3 or 4 years, but he probably won't be getting an offer from juventus again.

Juve could've signed him in the summer window but left it late, Zenit demanded a higher fee and Witsel was on the last year of his current deal.

Not a big deal/worthy of a thread