Witsel, Simeone's unexpected central defender who came from the hand of that key agent in the signing of Futre in 1987

• Atlético Simeone's mental readjustments for Atlético in the face of a dangerous season

Although it may not seem like it,

and

have many things in common.

One of them, the most important for Atlético, has a name and surname:

.

In the summer of 1987,

boarded a private plane in the company of a young agent (32 years old).

They were flying to Porto to meet with Pinto da Costa, who was then president of the blue and white club, and close the deal to take Futre, the fashionable name in Europe, to the Vicente Calderón.

That representative was D'Onofrio.

After sealing the agreement, both flew to Milan, where the Portuguese star was waiting for news, and traveled to Madrid in the company of the man who would become a club legend.

His face shines this season on the membership card of the entity.

D'Onofrio, the son of Italians who landed in Liège, met Axel Witsel two decades ago.

He was vice president of Standard de Liège and Axel, a boy convinced that he would be a world soccer star.

He would be vital in one of the most difficult moments in the midfielder's career.

In August 2009, after a fortuitous move, Witsel broke Polish

's tibia and fibula , a player for Anderlecht, Standard's great rival.

That became a matter of state in Belgium and led D'Onofrio to be part of a summit promoted from above.

Witsel was never the same again.

After receiving threats, he went to Benfica in 2011.

For a long time, D'Onofrio has been Axel's agent and that made things easier for Atlético.

The operation was carried out personally by

, but it was his agent, whom

has known since that distant episode with Futre, who helped convince the player that his future passed through the Metropolitan.

There was a phone call from the rojiblanca noble zone, through the phone of his agent, before organizing a meal in Madrid with him and his wife.

"From the first moment we were able to verify that he is a mature, familiar and responsible person," they define him from the club's offices.

China's 16 million

This afternoon (7:30 p.m.), on the grass of Getafe, Witsel, 33, will experience his official premiere.

And, surprisingly, he will do it as a third center back, a position in which he has shone during an impeccable preseason.

His arrival was the answer to the departure of

, to raise the cache of the medullary, but Simeone, whom he dazzled from the first day, saw something more in him.

In Turin, during the last friendly against Juventus, apart from his astonishing precision in the pass, he suffocated Vlahovic and made the afternoon

.

And it is that Axel, who surprised everyone with that Spanish that he learned at Zenit with

(he also speaks French, English, German and Portuguese) and has teamed up with

and his compatriot

, has been absorbing each indication as a youth.

Axel Witsel, during a training session with Atlético.ATLETICODEMADRID.COMMUNDO

Luis Suárez Arrones

, today FC Lugano's physical trainer, knows him well.

Both coincided in that unexpected and exotic adventure of 19 months in the Chinese Tianjin Quanjian.

The

per season offered to Witsel, four times what he received in St. Petersburg, were the reason.

"Axel is the perfect boyfriend that all mothers want for his daughter," Luis jokes from the other end of the phone with this diary.

«On a professional level he is top.

He takes great care of himself, with a good diet and a good rest.

He is a very familiar guy (he has three children) and with excellent sports habits », he points out in his analysis.

«In China he played in midfield and they often used to send him potatoes that he, apart from controlling, he transformed into balls that gave meaning to the game.

On a defensive level he gives a lot of balance, he is a player that every coach always likes to have ».

The influence of futsal

Witsel, who started as a striker in futsal under the influence of his father,

, born in

and a professional player for 12 years, recovered in record time from the Achilles tendon rupture he suffered in Dortmund in January 2021 He was able, against all odds, to play in the European Championship and be a starter in the Belgian team led by Roberto Martínez.

For Suárez Arrones, neither that injury nor his 33 years are any obstacle to being a key player in Simeone's drawing.

«For a player like him, in the position he plays, where he will rarely develop high speed or sprint, the Achilles tendon barely influences his performance.

And in his case, with all that he takes care of himself and the position he occupies, age won't be a problem either."

Although physically he has nothing to do with it, his touch, positioning and vision of the game are reminiscent among fans of

.

«Axel does not have a very showy game, because he is rarely seen dribbling, but he builds and gives balance.

He has a physical appearance that draws a lot of attention because of his hair, his blue eyes and that handful of tattoos that he hides under his shirt.

He is almost perfect in everything because of how he behaves and how he is in the locker room », adds Suárez.

Today Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel, simply Axel in the locker room, with a one-year contract and a salary close to six million, begins his adventure with Atlético.

He will do it as a key player in the rojiblanco system.

Just like in his day it was Paulo Futre.

It may be that, although they do not look alike physically or in terms of football, both will have even more things in common.

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