Chelsea’s Pedro and Willian deserve to choose how they end the season

Pedro and Willian are rapidly approaching the point of extending the rest of this season for Chelsea or leaving. They deserve that choice.

Because the world is weird right now, contracts can expire before the season actually resumes. Not even a club like Chelsea is excluded from that weirdness. Both Willian and Pedro need an extension to finish the season and with barely a week to go before they are free, there has been little movement on the extension front.

Many have taken this as an affront to Chelsea as a club, at least on Willian’s part. After all, if he really wanted to extend at Chelsea, surely he would take the short term extension? As for Pedro, most are okay with and have accepted that he is leaving, but there is still that sense of being owed loyalty by many.

Full stop, both players have earned their chance to do what they want with their careers. And this very much is a question about their careers. If they want to extend, so be it. If they do not, thank them for their service to the club on their way out the door.

Willian is one of the club’s longest serving players. While he was never what many expected him to be, he almost always put in the dirty work behind the scenes for nearly every manager he had at Chelsea. Pedro had a much shorter stay, but he too was a workhorse whenever he played.

But this goes beyond that. Covid has shown that Chelsea fans are willing to allow one of their world class midfielders, N’Golo Kante, to sit on the side lines for as long as he desires with little to no criticism. So why are some fans not also the fans that allow Willian and Pedro to go so they can stay healthy for the next step in their careers?

It is a weird paradox being a fan. Some players get a pass and others simply do not. Willian and Pedro deserve that pass because their career is their own. Yes, Willian had an extension on the table that he did not take to. That does not mean he has to sign the short term one now as he waits.

Both players being allowed to leave or even not being able to be counted on in the next week will leave Chelsea short staffed. That is not Willian or Pedro’s fault. It is simply one of those things caused by this virus that now has to be dealt with. Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Ross Barkley can all push up if need be.

Frank Lampard wants them to stay but it remains to be seen what exactly will happen. Pedro allegedly has a deal set up already so his extension is unlikely. Willian supposedly has no such deal, but he may not want to risk that uncertainty being put into even more jeopardy with an injury.

But these players get to choose what to do with their careers. They have given enough to the club to earn that privilege.