Few like the idea of extending Willian beyond one year, but his contributions this season for Chelsea hint that he has more to offer than not.
Talk of Willian this season has largely revolved around his unresolved contract situation with Chelsea’s board. While his demand for a brand new three year contract can be seen as excessive due to his age, Willian’s on pitch performances this season do leave food for thought.
Has the Brazilian actually done enough to warrant more than a one year contract with Chelsea?
When presented with news articles stating Willian’s desire for a three year contract, many Chelsea fans are instantly drawn into making direct comparisons between the current contract situation with Willian and that of John Terry back in 2015. After all, if Terry, the man affectionately named Mr. Chelsea after 19 long years at the club, was not offered a contract longer than a year, surely it is not Willian’s place to request for a three year extension on his part.
However, saying so would ignore the fact that contract demands ultimately serve as a representation of a player’s value in his own eyes. At 31, Willian clearly believes that he still has much to offer on and off the pitch and thus has every right to request for a three year deal befitting his self-evaluation of his worth. Considering Terry’s dwindling on pitch influence in his final years at the club as well as his genuine attachment to the club beyond contracts and wages, Terry’s situation then is in actuality rather different from that of Willian’s. Moreover, when looking at the statistics that Willian has posted this season, the Brazilian actually has a case to be made as one of Chelsea’s most important players thus far.
This season, the 31 year old’s combined 13 goals and assists make him Chelsea’s second most prolific forward this campaign, behind only Tammy Abraham. Moreover, a deeper dive into per 90 statistics sees Willian deliver 2.38 key passes per 90 and 6 assists thus far, the highest in Chelsea’s squad. This figure dwarfs that of Christian Pulisic at 1.58 key passes per 90 as well as that of Callum Hudson-Odoi at 2.16. What this means is that on a statistical level at least, the numbers that Willian are putting up easily qualifies him as Chelsea’s most creative player.
More significantly, and perhaps crucially, would be Willian’s defensive contributions to the team. The winger’s 1.8 tackles and interceptions per 90 once again overshadow his younger counterparts’ defensive contributions which stand at 1.2 and 0.7 per 90 for Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi respectively. When taking into account Chelsea’s overall defensive struggles this campaign, this could explain why Frank Lampard has continued to place his faith in Willian as his go to winger. At 31, Willian’s vast experience certainly counts in his favor here.
On pitch contributions aside, Willian’s experience can once again come into play in serving as a mentor to the younger wingers in Lampard’s side. While it is true that the Brazilian’s goals and assists across his time at the club are not the most impressive, Willian’s longevity and durability cannot be ignored. In fact, since his arrival in 2013, the winger has only been injured twice, missing just 4 games across 20 days. While jokes have certainly been passed around regarding Willian’s ever present nature in the past 7 years, the truth remains that much like club captain Cesar Azpilicueta, the ageing forward actually takes supreme care of himself. In this regard, Willian’s professionalism remains undoubted and serves as a prime example for the younger players at the club currently.
Finally, when deciding if Willian is worth keeping around for a few more years, one certainly has to account for the teams he has been touted to join on a free, namely Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. For all that Chelsea fans love to criticize Willian for, there is no doubt that he would prove a useful addition for Chelsea’s greatest rivals. Much like how a 32 year old Olivier Giroud became integral to Maurizio Sarri’s journey to the Europa League title, Willian could yet hurt Chelsea in seasons to come. As matches in the past against Spurs or Barcelona would show, Willian performs best when he feels he has a point to prove. If such a move really does materialize, who is to say that the Brazilian would not turn into prime Ronaldo come his next return to Stamford Bridge?
In an ideal world, Lampard’s most favored winger would accept a new two or one year deal at the club he has called home for the past seven years. This would prove to be a smart piece of business considering the current economic climate. But we live in a world far from ideal and for all of the shortcomings that have been repeatedly pointed out to him by his own fans, perhaps it would take a move away from the blue half of London to show Chelsea fans exactly what they have been taking for granted all these while.