Axel Witsel Hails Leadership Qualities of Mats Hummels After Borussia Dortmund Return
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Axel Witsel has revealed his joy at the return to Signal Iduna Park of Mats Hummels, after admitting that their playing styles complement each other nicely.
The World Cup winning German centre-back re-joined BVB from rivals Bayern Munich earlier this summer for a fee of £27m, after the Bavarians strengthened in central defence with the arrivals of Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez.
Witsel is confident that the addition of the World Cup winner has strengthened Die Borussen and feels the club are capable of challenging for the title again this season as a result.
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Speaking to German sports magazine Kicker, via the Bundesliga's official website, Witsel said: "Hummels is a leader, and the more leaders we have the better! You could see right from the off his influence in training and in our friendly matches.
"It's easy for me to play with him. He's technically very good. I can play the ball to him in any situation."
"We're more experienced now. That's what we were missing down the back straight."
Dortmund were agonisingly close to lifting the Meisterschale last season after missing out by only two points, despite leading the Bundesliga title race for the majority of the campaign - even holding a nine-point advantage over eventual winners Bayern at one stage.
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Hummels played an important role in Die Roten's successful attempt at clawing back the point-gap deficit and will be hoping to help bring BVB back to the top next season, which would be their first since 2012- where Hummels and then manager Jürgen Klopp helped Die Schwarzgelben lift the title.
The German joins Dortmund as a replacement for French centre back Abdou Diallo, who has left for Paris Saint-Germain, while Der BVB have also made other shrewd signings following the departure of Christian Pulisic to Chelsea.
With the funds coming from the Pulisic transfer, Dortmund managed to secure deals for Julian Brandt, Thorgan Hazard and Nico Schulz all in the quest to once again lift the Bundesliga title.
