Chelsea Officially Signed Willian

[Sheva. 5,373]

very mata ish....

Maybe, but he's way faster than Mata.

[Blue Armour 4,336]

Willian keen on Chelsea move:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4086886/Willian-keen-on-Chelsea-move.html

Quotes from the player are included, but its from the Sun though...

[Madmax 9,219]

An interesting piece I found :

What Real Betis and Denilson Can Teach Chelsea About Willian

In 2001, I was living in Seville, Spain and fell in love with Real Betis Balompie. At the time, Betis was in the Segunda but nevertheless possessed two top tier footballers – Spain’s Joaquin and Brazil’s Denílson de Oliveira Araújo.

A few times a week I’d head down to Betis’ training ground and stand 20 feet away from these two and watch as they out-dueled each other with freakish skills. While both players were incredible to watch, Denilson was my man. To this day, he's probably one of my favorite players of all time.

Denilson was perhaps best known for his contributions to Brazil’s 1998 World Cup squad, namely pulling an orgasmic five step-over move in the box against Holland (At 1:31 in the video below).

Deni’s breakout play in the World Cup was enough to convince Real Betis to break the world-record transfer fee and pay São Paulo £21.5 million for his services. In 1998, this was a ton of money.

When I arrived in Seville three years later, most beticos were growing weary of Denilson. I insisted they were wrong. Denilson would produce, I argued.

But despite my awe and admiration, the beticos were right. Denilson never became the footballer he was destined to be. In the end, his love for magic foot-skills blinded him from knowing what to do once he managed to get by defenders.

He was not a wasted talent. But he was certainly not worth anywhere near his £21.5 million transfer fee.

Today, there's another Brazilian winger who can dizzy his opponents with high-paced step-overs, Shakhtar Donetsk's Willian Borges da Silva.

With eight days to go in this underwhelming January transfer window a lot of chatter has been made of Chelsea's efforts to land Willian. And while there's nothing I like more than seeing new, exciting blood in a Premier League squad, when it comes to Willian, Chelsea need to pump the brakes.

Like most, my only exposure to Willian has been through Shakhtar's Champions League campaigns over the last four years. It's not that I don't rate the Ukrainian Premier League - quite the opposite, actually - but neither those matches nor their highlights are ever shown on television.

That being said, I've seen enough of Willian to know that he is an extraordinarily talented footballer. He possesses all the typical Brazilian foot skills coupled with explosive pace and a penchant for running directly at defenders. However, like Denilson and many other young, talented Brazilians, Willian's love for the samba shake sometimes overcomes the need to get the job done.

To me, this comes down to coaching. Willian needs to be put in an enviornment where his manager convinces him that in team football, the flash comes second. I think Andre Villas Boas could be the man to make this happen and Chelsea could be the club to take Willian to the next level.

But Chelsea need to make a smart purchase. Reports out of Shakhtar claim they recently rejected a £16.5million bid insisting that Willian "is not for sale." In other words, Shakhtar want more money for the 23 year old.

So should Chelsea pony up?

Hell no. (For now).

Willian spent the 2006-2007 at Corinthians where he scored two goals in 37 appearances. In August 2007, Shakhtar paid £12 million for Willian. Here's how he's played over that time:

▪ In 2007-2008 he failed to score in 35 league appearances and 4 Champions League matches.

▪ In 2008-2009 he scored six goals in 37 league appearances and two goals in 11 Champions League matches.

▪ In 2009-2010 he scored 5 times in 24 league appearances but failed to score in three Champions League matches.

▪ In 2010-2011 he scored three times in 28 league appearances and twice in ten Champions League matches.

▪ This season, Willian has scored three times in 20 league appearances and once in six Champions League matches.

In total, he's notched 17 goals in 134 league appearances and five goals in 34 Champions League matches.

To me, these numbers are not very impressive. And it's not like Willian is another Juan Mata-type who bags a ton of assists. Although it's more difficult to track down Willian's assist records, it appears that the Brazilian has between 3-5 assists over his 34 Champions League appearances.

So what does this mean?

It means that Willian is a highly talented 23 year old Brazilian winger who, in five years at Shakhtar has failed to turn talent into production.

Couple this with the fact that Willian is cup-tied in the Champions League and suddenly his value to Chelsea drops . . . significantly.

But the real kicker is this:

When Willian arrived at Shakhtar in 2007 he penned a five year contract, which ends on June 30, 2012.

So when it comes to bringing Willian to Stamford Bridge, there's no rush.

Chelsea should spend the next six months determining whether Willian's talent can be transfered into production. And if so, offer him a competitive weekly wage and save the £16.5 million transfer fee.

That way, Willian can be Willian. And not the next Denilson.

http://www.thesecondball.com/

[francozola 2,040]

"When Willian arrived at Shakhtar in 2007 he penned a five year contract, which ends on June 30, 2012."

Does his contract really expire in 6 months? I'm sure Shakhtar must have made him sign a new contract since then

[themightyblue 443]

http://www.sambafoot.com/en/news/27944_willian_looks_forward_to_possible_chelsea_move.html

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1013162/shakhtar-donetsk-midfielder-willian-up-for-chelsea-move?cc=3436

Willian wants to play for us, hopefully this will alow us to complete the deal without Having to Increase our Bid too much

[ulsterchelsea 3,221]

His club always said he wanted to Join

[Blue Armour 4,336]

An interesting piece I found :

http://www.thesecondball.com/

That piece was interesting, but I have to disagree with the author regarding a couple of things..:

1. Why should Chelsea look into Willian's ability and productivity in the coming 6 months? If the clubs scouts are any good and have lined him up as a possible target this Jan, they would have already been monitoring his progress for the past several months.

2. While it is sensible not to splash cash on a player that is cup-tied, I don't exactly agree with the author when he says there is "no rush" to bring in a player like that to the bridge. Our top 4 spot could be in jeopardy, and there might not be any Champions League incentive to bring this player or any other player this summer

[LDN Blue 7,903]

He's a free agent in June? We really should wait then & not let Shaktar have an advantage.

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

He's a free agent in June? We really should wait then & not let Shaktar have an advantage.

Where does it say that he's in his final year of his contract?

[francozola 2,040]

^ In that article Jaimin posted.

[Idiot 71]

thought his contract expires in 2014??

[We Hate Scouse 10,287]

He signed that contract in 2007, his probably had an extension since then.

[Madmax 9,219]

He's a free agent in June? We really should wait then & not let Shaktar have an advantage.

I think that blogger has made a mistake, his contract expires next summer.

[Waterfall 893]

People are so dismissive... Demba Ba looked like a 'Newcastle signing' 12 months ago and now he is one of the best strikers in the EPL and worthy of a starting berth at any English team.

That's more of an exception than the norm. Players who look like mid-bottom table club signings usually do look just like that.

[Joker10 946]

http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/willian/profil/spieler_52769.html

According to this site his contract expires in the summer of 2014.

[chrismada9 1,948]

He's a free agent in June? We really should wait then & not let Shaktar have an advantage.

If Kevin De Bruyne wasn't getting loaned out to Genk after signing for us, I would have agreed with you..

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

Shaktar say negotiations are 'ongoing'.

"You probably know from the Internet that Hazard’s transfer value is 30-35 million. Chelsea offered 20 million for Willian. I do not think that Willian is weaker than Hazard, and in some components he is even stronger!"