Axel Witsel: Career, Salary, Honours & More

Published at Feb 4th, 2022 byAlex McMahon

Photo Credit: AP

Fans in Belgium, Portugal, Russia, China and Germany have been able to enjoy the play of Axel Witsel. Currently plying his trade wearing the Borussia Dortmund kit, the Belgian has been a common name in transfer rumour columns throughout his career.

Axel Witsel is no journeyman, though. He’s an established Champions League-quality player, who has amassed over a decade of experience in international football.

Only Jan Vertonghen has more caps for Belgium. The 6’1 midfielder featured in the 2014 World Cup, 2016 Euros, 2018 World Cup and the delayed Euro 2020 tournament.

Witsel has won silverware at most of his stops. His play isn’t always eye-catching, though he always stands out on the field thanks to his towering physique.

He’s a player who does the little things, who makes his team tick, allowing his more advanced teammates to flourish.

How Much Does Axel Witsel Earn?

Axel Witsel salary at Borussia Dortmund is £123,000 per week. This is among the club’s highest earners, though Witsel actually took a considerable pay cut to return to Europe after earning mega money in China with Tianjin Quanjian.

Initially on just under £70,000 at Zenit St Petersburg, Witsel’s weekly wage exploded into the £300,000 range when he moved to China.

He wasn’t the only player to make such a move when Chinese clubs were offering monster wages. The couple of seasons spent in the far east considerably boosted his career earnings.

Witsel is the sixth-highest earner at Dortmund in 2021-22. Erling Haaland, Emre Can, Marco Reus, Mats Hummels and Thomas Meunier all earn more.

Axel Witsel

Each of those salaries are understandable given their previous clubs or status – Meunier, Can and Hummels all had hefty wages at PSG, Juventus and Bayern respectively.

Axel Witsel has long been linked with a Premier League move. Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton were all mooted as suitors, but with the China stint in the middle of his career, perhaps the pay was not so impressive.

After all, Witsel is on a good salary at Dortmund, and he’s earning more than plenty of big Premier League names, including Mason Mount, Riyad Mahrez, Kyle Walker and Sadio Mane.

Professional Career

In the academy of Standard Liège from the age of 10, Axel Witsel made his debut for the club at just 17 years old.

His European debut followed less than two weeks later, and by the 2007-08 campaign, a teenage Witsel was an integral member of the team as they won the Belgian Pro League.

Partnered with Steven Defour and Marouane Fellaini in midfield, Witsel and his teammates were drawing attention from around Europe. He even converted the winning penalty to secure back-to-back league titles for Les Rouches.

Fellaini and Witsel were soon getting interest from bigger European leagues. It was a question of when, not if, they left Liege.

Witsel departed for Benfica in 2011, and he completed a league-cup double with the club in his only full season. He appeared 52 times for the Lisbon giants.

Big-spending Russian club Zenit St Petersburg splashed €40 million on Witsel in 2012. Immediately a key player, Witsel racked up 180 appearances in just five seasons.

He was integral as they won the 2014-15 league title and earned plenty of Champions League experience, albeit never making a deep run in the competition.

Established as a Belgium international throughout this period, Witsel was one of the best players outside of Europe’s top five leagues.

Links to the Premier League were commonplace throughout his time in Russia. Witsel had the ability to play at a higher level, though Zenit were demanding a massive fee that put off would be suitors. Ultimately, he moved in January 2017 to Tianjin Quanjian.

Witsel wasn’t the only high-profile player to move to China in the latter half of the 2010s. Former Chelsea players Ramires, Oscar and John Obi Mikel all represented clubs in the Super League as did Carlos Tevez, Fredy Guarin, Alex Teixeira, Gervinho and Paulinho.

Others stayed for several seasons, but Witsel remained for little over 18 months. He returned to Europe in the summer of 2018, agreeing a considerable pay cut to sign a four-year deal with Bundesliga news giants Borussia Dortmund.

There has been considerable turnover of the Dortmund squad since his arrival. As he’s entered his thirties, injuries have become more of an issue, too. At the time of writing, he’s made 132 appearances for the club across three-and-a-half seasons.

FIFA 22

Axel Witsel is rated at 83 in FIFA 22. He’s a gold rare in Ultimate Team, and has one other card at the time of writing. His lone special card is in the Signature Signings promo – it is rated at 87 and has boosted stats across the board, including +11 on pace.

Witsel has featured in Ultimate Team since FIFA 10, albeit with a season-long hiatus during his time in China. His gold cards peaked at 85 in FIFA 19 and FIFA 20.

Axel Witsel

Special cards have been commonplace for the Belgian in recent editions of the game. He had a well-regarded flashback in FIFA 21 plus a 95-rated endgame card with 90+ ratings in every category.

The 93 overall flashback in FIFA 20 was incredibly popular, and fans are hoping for a similar Axel Witsel FIFA 22 release.