Willian’s three best moments as he departs Chelsea
By Jake Leach
Willian is due to the leave West London club after seven successful years at the club. What were his best moments at Chelsea?
Willian is leaving Chelsea after seven successful years at the club with Arsenal rumored to be his next destination. The Brazilian was allegedly offered a two year contract extension at Chelsea, but this didn’t suit his wishes. He wanted a three year deal instead, which Arsenal seem willing to pay.
His career in West London has been successful in terms of silverware: two Premier League titles and an FA Cup among his accolades. Despite winning five trophies in blue, he has often divided opinion within the Chelsea fan base. The debate comes from his numbers at the end of every season with goals and assists. 2019/20 was his best return after nine goals and seven assists in the Premier League.
What were the Brazilian’s best bits in West London? No one can deny he has had many highs with the number 22 (and 10) on his back.
1. 2015/2016 player of the season
It was overall a poor season the year after Jose Mourinho won his third Premier League trophy in London. Willian was the one stand out performer from that season when his side finished tenth. He rightly won Chelsea player of the year after 11 goals and 10 assists.
He also performed in the Champions League. Chelsea got to the round of 16 but lost to Paris Saint Germain. He scored five goals and assisted one in eight games. In a campaign where Eden Hazard and Diego Costa contributed 16 goals in total. Willian stood up to carry his side on several occasions.
2. That night against Barcelona
Following another Premier League trophy season the year before, Antonio Conte’s Chelsea were back in the Champions League after a year with European football. The Premier League campaign was unsuccessful, they finished fifth. The only way to retain Champions League was to win the competition.
Barcelona were the opponents and the odds were against Conte’s side. Chelsea lost, as expected, but Willian put in an applaudable performance in the first leg at Stamford Bridge.
He broke the deadlock to make it 1-0 with a beautiful low finish from outside the box. Ultimately Chelsea lost the tie 4-1 but the FA Cup was won in May after defeating Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley.
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3. A double against Spurs
The 2019/20 season was Willian’s best in terms of goals and assists. He concluded on nine goals and seven assists. Playing a lot of the season on the right hand side, he was a senior figure in Frank Lampard’s debut season.
The Blues did the double over spurs. Willian was instrumental in the game away, which was Chelsea’s debut visit to the new, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
His best goal came straight from a corner, he shifted the ball onto his right foot to curl around Hugo Lloris.
The relationship between Willian and the North London club has history. He was close to signing before Chelsea got on the phone. It makes it sweeter when he finds the net against a rival club, things could have been very different if he did go on and sign for, at the time, Andre Villas-Boas side, a former gaffer at Stamford Bridge.
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After seven years at the club, Willian will leave the Bridge with two Premier League medals, one FA Cup, a league cup, one Europa League and a player of the season award.
He will not go down as a club legend but after 234 games, he will go down as an exceptional servant after scoring 37 and assisting 39.