Chelsea to return for Willian with second bid
Reports have suggested that Chelsea are not yet ready to give up their pursuit of Shakhtar Donetsk maestro Willian, and will return to the Ukrainian outfit with a renewed bid.
It emerged on Sunday that the Blues have already had a £16.5m rejected by Donetsk but were encouraged by statements from the club following the offer.
It’s been reported that Shakhtar Donetsk have opened up to the idea of losing their winger and that a bid of more than £20m may prise him away.
The 23 year-old has a release clause of £29m in his contract however Chelsea won’t be expected to pay that sum in order to capture Willian.
It helps that Blues owner Roman Abramovich is close personal friends with the owner of Shakhtar Donetsk, Rinat Akhmetov, which could lessen the pressure of negotiations.
The Ukrainian side have supposedly told the Brazilian international that he can leave the club and pursue his dream of playing in England as long as the club receive an acceptable fee for his services.
Willian de Borges Silva, or simply ‘Willian’, moved to Shakhtar Donetsk from Corinthians in 2007 for a fee of almost £10m.
Since his arrival, the trickster has made over 150 appearances for the Donetsk side and has made a name for himself as a solid creator of goals with 13 assists under his belt already this season.
Willian earned his first caps for the Brazilian national side in 2011 following good form in the Ukrainian Premier League.
Chelsea will not be able to use Willian in their Champions League campaign considering the speedster has already appeared for Donetsk in Europe this season, however Andre Villas Boas could still be tempted to sign the £26m-rated attacker as Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda both look certain to be freeing up space in his squad very soon.
