Chelsea midfielder Willian has put an end to speculation about his future at Stamford Bridge by insisting he never wanted to leave the club.
The Brazilian winger was linked with potential moves to Manchester United and Barcelona after appearing to fall out with Antonio Conte. Chelsea were convincingly beaten by Manchester City in the Community Shield and begin the season without Champions League football for the second time in Willian’s five years in west London, but he revealed he remains content with life at the club.
“I’ve always made it very clear that I’ve always been very happy playing for Chelsea. I never said that I want to leave the club,” Willian said.
The height of Willian’s problematic relationship with Conte was when he posted an image on Instagram with Conte’s face covered up. Now that Conte’s two year stay at Stamford Bridge is over, the Brazilian winger is determined to impress new manager Maurizio Sarri.
“This is a new era, with a new manager and I’ve had a good conversation with him. I hope we can enjoy a lot of victories.
“This is just the beginning,” the Brazilian added. “I’ve been only in three training sessions. We have a new season with a new philosophy, everything is new for everyone. But this team has everything to improve in all aspects.”
Sarri brought midfielder Jorginho with him from Napoli and is the only player Chelsea have spent money on this window, with veteran goalkeeper Robert Green joining as a free agent.
Chelsea still have Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois’s futures to sort out before Thursday’s English transfer deadline. Hazard returned to training on Monday and Chelsea have not been in talks with Real Madrid to sell the winger, however Sarri is less confident that Courtois will stay. The Blues will be looking to improve on their fifth-placed finish last season, and begin their Premier League campaign at Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
A fast, agile, hard-working and technically gifted player, Willian is known for his quick feet, acceleration, and explosive style of play, which allows him to dribble past opponents at speed whilst keeping close control of the ball; in typical Brazilian style, he has also been known to pull off feints and tricks, such as the elastico, in order to confuse and beat defenders.
He primarily plays as a winger or as an attacking midfielder, and his high stamina, vision and creativity enables him to link-up play between the deeper midfielders and the forwards, and create goalscoring chances.During the 2015–16 season, while at Chelsea, he showed his prowess at direct free-kicks,with almost all his goals coming from set pieces.He improved the statistics of his attacking game, which led many to call him Chelsea’s top performer of the season