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Zenit confirms Witsel move to China

Zenit St. Petersburg

Russian giant Zenit St. Petersburg is set for a massive vacancy in its midfield after the club confirmed Tuesday that Belgium international Axel Witsel has agreed to a move to Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian.

The Juventus target joins the Fabio Cannavaro-helmed newly promoted side on a reported five-year deal and is expected to earn around €20 million annually, according to a report from The Guardian's Ed Aarons.

"Everyone here at Zenit wishes to thanks Axel for his contribution to the club's history," a statement on Zenit's website said Tuesday.

After five seasons with Zenit, Witsel becomes the latest player to make a lucrative move to China.

On the other side of New Year's, Brazilian Oscar moved to Shanghai SIPG for an astronomical £60-million (€70.6 million) fee and Carlos Tevez swapped Boca Juniors for Shanghai Shenhua, where the Argentine is reportedly set to become the world's highest-paid player on a £615,000-per-week (€765,000) deal.

Neither Zenit nor Tianjin confirmed a fee for the 27-year-old Liege-born defensive midfielder who had long been the object of Juventus' desires, among other top-flight clubs.

"It was a very difficult decision because on the one hand there was a huge, top club in Juventus, but on the other hand there was an irresistible offer for the future of my family," he told Tuttosport earlier in the week, as translated by ESPN FC.

"I will be a Juventus fan and I hope that Juve will win the Champions League, and who knows maybe our paths will finally cross in future."

Perhaps they will, but for the time being Witsel is off to China following a decorated spell at Zenit where he won the Russian league title, Russian Cup and Russian Super Cup after making 180 appearances for the club, pairing 22 goals with 13 assists.

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