Chelsea midfielder Willian has said he sees no problem in joining a rival club if he leaves the Blues on good terms as speculation continues to link the Brazilian with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Willian, 31, admitted last month that his seven-year spell at Chelsea is likely to come to an end this summer when his contract expires after failing to agree terms on a new deal. The Brazil international is holding out for a three-year contract but Chelsea were only willing to offer two years.
Given his situation, rumours have begun circulating regarding his next move. Spurs appear an obvious option due to Willian's positive relationship with manager Jose Mourinho, who signed the Brazilian for Chelsea in 2013 and attempted to take him to Old Trafford while in charge at Manchester United.
Arsenal, too, have been credited with an interest in Willian, while Spanish champions Barcelona had previously attempted to sign him during the summer of 2018.
Moving to a rival club often causes plenty of friction between the player and his previous team's supporters, but Willian does not envision any issues if he leaves Chelsea amicably.
“It really is a hard decision. I identified myself a lot at Chelsea, I have a lot of love for everyone at the club, and the fans," Willian told Brazillian YouTube channel Desimpedidos.
“However, it is like I said before, if I leave Chelsea with no trouble and leaving the doors open, it would be fine to move to a rival club.”
When pressed on whether he would be aiming to stay in London, Willian said: "I don’t know. I like London and so does my family. However, this is a question that I still don’t know the answer, if I will stay at Chelsea, move to another team from London, or leave England."
While remaining noncommittal over what his future holds, Willian did take the opportunity to sing Mourinho's praises, which is sure to add further speculation over a possible move to Tottenham.
“He is not only a great coach but also a great friend of mine. Sometimes we talk but regarding this situation, he totally respects it," he said.
“I learnt a bit from each of [my managers] but I identified myself more with Mourinho for sure. He trusted in my potential, liked my football, gave me full confidence to play. He is the best coach I have worked with.”
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Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
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UAE%20FIXTURES
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Premier League results
Saturday
Crystal Palace 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 2
Cardiff City 2 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Bournemouth 2
Leicester City 3 Fulham 1
Newcastle United 3 Everton 2
Southampton 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Manchester City 3 Watford 1
Sunday
Liverpool 4 Burnley 2
Chelsea 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Arsenal 2 Manchester United 0
Tour de France
When: July 7-29
UAE Team Emirates:
Dan Martin, Alexander Kristoff, Darwin Atapuma, Marco Marcato, Kristijan Durasek, Oliviero Troia, Roberto Ferrari and Rory Sutherland
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- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
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31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
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- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
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Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Founders: Mohamed Al Fayed and Mohammed Hammedi
Launched: October 2019
Employees: 50
Financing stage: Seed round (raised $2 million)
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
