Arsenal remain in pole position to sign Willian with the Chelsea winger reportedly telling friends he wants to become a Gooner.
Barcelona and Inter Miami are said to be competing with the North London club for Willian, who also has a contract extension on the table from Chelsea.
An agreement with the Blues has not been ruled out yet as the Brazilian’s priority is securing a three-year deal.
Out of contract at the end of the month, Willian has now informed friends of his preference to move.
The Mirror believe Arsenal to be the 31-year-old’s preferred destination, as it will also keep his family settled in the capital.
David Beckham’s new MLS club Inter are thought to have offered the winger the highest salary, on a three-and-a-half-year deal.
Ilkay Gundogan has described Kai Havertz’s potential as “unlimited” as the German starlet gets set for a move to Chelsea.
The London club officials are reportedly locked in transfer negotiations with the Bundesliga club in order to complete the star’s move to Stamford Bridge.
Leverkusen are desperate to get the best out of the attacking midfielder in what would surely be his last few games for Bayer in the Europa League, starting tomorrow night in their second leg against Rangers.
The Manchester City ace told Bild: “I expect great things from him. Kai’s potential is unlimited, there are no limits.
“He brings a lot with him, and now it’s up to him to show off this enormous talent.
“He has this calm and serenity on the ball, and is a prudent type on the other side.”
Antonio Rudiger has expressed his apprehension with the news that his Blues teammate, Willian, is set to leave Chelsea after the Champions League match against Bayern Munich on August 8.
The Brazilian reportedly rejected the new two-year contract the London club offered him thereby leaving the door open for prospective suitors.
But reports claim Arsenal have offered the winger a three-year deal, and his strongly attracted by the prospect of remaining in London.
Now, Rudiger says Chelsea will miss Willian should he ultimately decide to leave the club on a free transfer and compared the Brazilian winger’s abilities to former Blues talisman Eden Hazard.
The Chelsea defender told reporters that: “Since day one of coming to Chelsea, he and David Luiz got me into the team and helped me out in the first couple of months because it was not that easy.
“He is a great guy and a really, really good footballer. He is calm and humble and it will be sad if I don’t see him again as a team-mate. He is not the type of player who talks that much.
“He does his thing on the pitch, just like Eden Hazard. By playing, he shows what he is about. He is a guy who dictates the game and not many players in the world have this type of quality.
“He is always training [hard] and practicing free-kicks after. He is someone who always wants to improve.”
Willian helped Chelsea to a top-four finish in the Premier League in the 2019-20 season and Rudiger has praised the work done by Frank Lampard in what is his first season in charge of the west Londoners.
He added: “To be honest, he is not like [Antonio] Conte or someone who, when you lose games, will rant at you. Of course, the coach is a bit quieter in the way that he says things. But the most important thing is that he gets to the point, and he does.
“We are all grown men and everyone can hear what the coach has said. I think he dealt very well with that pressure and kept us alive. Even if it went good or bad, he always kept us alive.
“For me, it is about the human being I am talking too. It is not only because someone wins titles. Of course, it can help because he is an open-minded coach and you can ask him about the times when he was playing.
“He knows the pressure and what the people want to see at this club. He knows about those pressure games, finals and everything.”
Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic has revealed how the club’s new boy Timo Werner has been churning out quality performances in training, saying the German “is a very dangerous player”.
The Blues announced the signing of the German striker for a fee of around £53m in June, but he has only joined up with his new teammates recently after finishing the Bundesliga season with Leipzig.
Werner has already appeared to show signs of what is to come, however, and speaking to Chelsea’s official website Pulisic said he has been impressed by what he has seen from the 24-year-old so far, report the Mirror.
“He’s a very dangerous player,” Pulisic said.
“I think he has some similar qualities to me and some of the attacking guys we have. He’s obviously very quick and very good in front of goal.
“He seems like a very humble guy. He wants to come in and wants to work. Playing against him has been a great experience and it’s going to be nice to have him on my team as well. So I’m definitely looking forward to that.”
Werner grabbed the attention of Europe’s elite clubs after scoring 28 times in the Bundesliga this season, and after being strongly linked with Liverpool he eventually signed on the dotted line for Chelsea in what many consider to be a major coup for the west London side.
It's been a week since @TimoWerner joined in full training with Chelsea and it’s fair to say the German already feels right at home! 💪 pic.twitter.com/fGKNiCV9VV
Aston Villa are set to beat Liverpool, Chelsea and German giants Bayern Munich to sign Exeter City’s England youth international Ben Chrisene.
The midfielder became the Grecians’ youngest ever player last August when he came on against Coventry City in the Carabao Cup, aged 15 years, seven months.
That was three months sooner than Exeter’s previous record holder Ethan Ampadu, who later joined Chelsea and starred for Wales.
Chrisene had been tipped to follow in Ampadu’s footsteps after emerging as one of the top teenagers in Europe
And Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has personally tried to persuade him to join.
Jurgen Klopp has also invited Chrisene to watch a Champions’ League game as a VIP guest of Liverpool, while the youngster has already turned out for Bayern Munich’s youth team last season.
But Dean Smith now looks favourite to sign Chrisene, according to Devon Live.
They say the youngster has turned down the League Two side’s offer of a pro contract, having made five first team appearances for the Grecians before the season ended.
Fresh reports have emerged as to how Arsenal’s move to snap up Willian on a free transfer is being driven by Mikel Arteta with the head coach eager to add the Chelsea winger’s experience to his young squad.
The 31-year-old is out of contract with the Blues this summer and has reportedly elected to join the Gunners after they offered him a three-year deal, with the move expected to be announced in the coming days.
While there have been critics of the deal who suggest it has been pushed by the increasingly influential Kia Joorabchian, The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports that Arteta is, in fact, the main driving force.
Arsenal have tracked Willian before but the deal is now being led by Arteta, who believes he is an ‘ideal’ signing to bring into the squad, report the Metro.
The Brazilian ticks a number of boxes, most notably that he would be an experienced head in an otherwise young – and, at times this season, naive – squad and can help those younger players develop and fulfil their potential.
The second big reason is that Arteta feels Willian can add a winning mentality and culture to the squad.
Although he watched from the sidelines as Arsenal defeated Chelsea in the FA Cup last weekend, he has twice won the Premier League as well as the Europa League – finishing as the leading assister that season.
Despite the speculation surrounding his future, Willian has continued to train as hard and diligently as ever and Chelsea boss Frank Lampard would have liked to keep him.
But the former Shakhtar and Anzhi winger has now ruled out staying at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal’s offer – and the role outlined to him by Arteta – is now the one he favours most.
Moreover, Arsenal’s proposed salary is not the most lucrative Willian has been offered – with Inter Miami and another unnamed club offering more – but he is keen to work with Arteta and remain living in London.
The connection with Arsenal technical director and compatriot Edu is also said to have played a role in Willian’s decision to pick Arsenal.
Willian enjoyed a fine run of form after the season restart, scoring fives times and laying on three assists in his first six Premier League games back in action, ending the season with the most prolific campaign of his career.
Joe Bryan’s two extra-time goals secured Fulham an immediate return to the Premier League, after beating Brentford 2-1 in the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final.
Josh Onomah and Ollie Watkins drew good saves from their opposition goalkeepers in normal time, but most of the action was saved for the additional 30 minutes.
Joe Bryan was the hero for the Whites, pearling in a stunning free-kick before slotting home a striker’s finish to put his side in control.
Henrik Dalsgaard pulled one back for the Bees at the death, but they didn’t have enough time to threaten a comeback, and so the bragging rights – and promotion – belonged to Fulham.
The Brentford defence was under intense pressure in the 10th minute when Kamara’s fast press scared Raya into passing straight to Bobby De Cordova-Reid, but we were eventually crowded out when he tried to feed Onomah for a shot.
The Whites had started superbly and fashioned another chance on 17 minutes when Tom Cairney played a reverse pass to Onomah who angled a shot towards the far post. Raya, though, showed fine agility to get down and palm it away.
The Bees’ first sniff of goal came just before the drinks break. First, Bryan Mbeumo sent in a looping header which was comfortable for Marek Rodák, before the same man was almost presented with a tap-in from Mathias Jensen’s in-swinging cross, only for Michael Hector to make a vital last gasp intervention.
Many of the Fulham staff were on their feet celebrating within three minutes of the restart when it looked as though Kebano had curled in yet another free-kick. It was a very similar angle to his effort in Cardiff, but the net was rippling due to the ball hitting it from the wrong side of the post.
A half chance came De Cordova-Reid’s way shortly before the half mark when Kebano’s cross diverted his way, but he had to take the shot quickly and could only volley wide.
Ollie Watkins had been anonymous all game, but the Championship’s second top scorer went close in the 71st minute with a driving strike from the edge of the box. Rodák watched it all the way, though, and was able to parry over the bar with relative ease.
Good chances were at a premium for a while after that, although Harrison Reed and Onomah did both send efforts over from range.
Fulham introduced Knockaert and Mitrović before normal time was up.
A great chance came Watkins’ way a minute into extra-time when Brentford substitute Sergi Canos bent a dangerous ball towards the six yard box, but Michael Hector did well to put him off and he screwed it wide.
Right at the end of the first half of extra-time, Bryan put his side in front in scandalous fashion. Raya left his goal gaping expecting the left-back to swing his free-kick in, and Bryan tried his luck from 40 yards – a gamble which paid phenomenal dividends as it crept inside the near post.
The remainder of the tie was as nervy as you would expect, until Bryan popped up to calm the nerves, playing a one-two with Mitrović before sliding in a cool as you like finish.
Dalsgaard did head in a consolation at the death, but that was all it was, as Fulham confirmed their place back in the Premier League.
