Chelsea midfielder has said that he is very happy at Chelsea and he intends to remain at the bridge for the 2018/2019 season.
The Brazil international has enjoyed a successful five years at Stamford Bridge, but the playmaker has been heavily linked with an exit before August 9. However, Willian has revealed that he is “very happy” with life at the Blues and is excited to work with new head coach Maurizio Sarri, despite alleged interest from Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The 29-year-old is quoted by Sky Sports News as saying: “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.
“This is a new era, with a new manager and I’ve had a very good conversation with him, so I hope we can enjoy a lot of victories.”
Willian could not prevent Chelsea from succumbing to a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.
Willian started his career at Corinthians, before joining Shakhtar in August 2007 for a fee of €14 million. In his six years at the club, he won honours including five Ukrainian Premier League titles and the UEFA Cup in 2009. In 2013, he briefly signed for Anzhi Makhachkala before joining Chelsea for £30 million, winning the Premier League and League Cup in his second season in England.
Willian made his debut for Brazil in 2011 and represented the country at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2015 Copa América and the World Cup.
On 25 August 2013, English Premier League club Chelsea agreed a deal to sign Willian for a fee of £30 million, subject to a work permit hearing on 28 August 2013. The deal was made official on 28 August 2013 and Willian signed a five-year contract, receiving the number 22 shirt. Although regulations usually state that non-EU players must be regular internationals, Willian was given a work permit despite only having two caps at the time, as an FA panel deemed that if were he not Brazilian he would be a regular.
Willian made his debut on 18 September against Basel in the Champions League in a 1–2 home defeat. After featuring in wins against Swindon Town and Steaua București in the League Cup and Champions League respectively, he made his league debut on 6 October away to Norwich City, and scored in a 3–1 win. He scored his second Chelsea goal on 1 January 2014 in a 3–0 victory at Southampton.[45] On 27 April 2014, Willian scored in Chelsea’s 2–0 away victory against Liverpool.
Willian scored his first goal of the new Premier League season in a 3–0 win over Aston Villa on 27 September. On 25 November, he scored his first Champions League goal for the club in a group stage match against Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen.
In extra time in a League Cup semi-final against Liverpool on 28 January 2015, he took the free-kick which was headed in by Branislav Ivanović to put Chelsea into the final. On 1 March, Willian was selected to start against Tottenham Hotspur in the 2015 League Cup Finalat Wembley Stadium, a match which Chelsea won 2–0 to win the trophy for the fifth time.
Willian ended the 2014–15 season having appeared in 36 of Chelsea’s 38 league matches as the club won its fifth league title
On 16 September, Willian scored directly from a free kick to open the scoring as Chelsea defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv in the club’s first game of the Champions League group stage. He went on to score from free kicks in the team’s next three matches; Premier League matches against Newcastle United and Southampton and a 2–1 loss at Porto in the Champions League. On 4 November, Willian scored his fifth free-kick of the season to give Chelsea a 2–1 win over Dynamo Kyiv, and 20 days later he recorded a sixth in a 4–0 triumph at Maccabi, making him Europe’s top free-kick scorer of the season.
On 9 December, Willian scored his fifth Champions League goal of the season in a 2–0 victory over Porto in Chelsea’s final group match, ensuring the team qualified for the knockout stage as group winners. He was subsequently named by UEFA as one of the top XI players of the Champions League group stage.
On 13 May 2016, Willian was named Chelsea’s Fans’ Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year for 2015–16. On 12 July 2016, Willian signed a new four-year contract. On 27 August 2016, he scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 win over newly promoted Burnley.
On 22 April 2017, Willian scored twice in Chelsea’s 4–2 FA Cup semi-final victory over rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium.
On his 200th appearance for Chelsea, Willian scored twice and won two penalties as the Blues beat Qarabağ 4–0 at Baku National Stadiumon 22 November. The win guaranteed the team progression into the knockout stages of the Champions League. In his next appearance, Willian came off the bench to score his first Premier League goal of the season, to rescue a point for Chelsea in a 1–1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield.