United step up their interest in Belgian starlet Witsel
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EXCLUSIVE: Manchester United step up their interest in Belgian starlet Witsel
Axel Witsel: Destined for the Premier League?
Sir Alex Ferguson has stepped up his pursuit of Axel Witsel after asking how much it would cost to prise the teenage midfielder away from Standard Liege.
The Manchester United manager is showing an increasingly strong interest in Witsel and has enquired about his availability and valuation, according to sources close to the Belgian club.
Standard are adamant the 19-year old is worth at least as much as Marouane Fellaini and that he will not be allowed to leave for any less than the deadline-day £15million Everton paid for their record signing.
Ferguson must now decide whether to meet Standard's asking price for Witsel after recently joining a chase headed by Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Arsenal and Bolton.
While Bolton appear to have been priced out of the race, after originally hoping to land him for as little as £6million, the others are monitoring Standard's UEFA Cup progress, on the understanding he could be lured away in January, should the Belgian champions fail to qualify from their group.
Ferguson sent one of his top scouts to watch Witsel in their opening group game against Sevilla and received a favourable report on his contribution to a 1-0 home win.
Inter Milan were also represented, but Standard chiefs are in no mood to cave in after tieing their prize asset to a contract until 2013 and forcing Everton to pay what they see as a benchmark figure for Fellaini.
Such is the level of interest in Witsel, who broke into Standard's starting line-up at just 17, that staff at the stadium struggled to cope with the demand for tickets from Premier League clubs for their meeting with Sevilla.