Chelsea midfielder Willian has signed a new four-year contract with the club.
The Brazil international, who had two years remaining on his current deal, scored 13 goals in 59 games for the Blues last season.
Willian, 27, joined from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala for a reported £30m in 2013.
"It's a dream to continue with this club and over the next four years I will try to help the team win more trophies," he said.
Willian, who has scored 19 goals in 140 matches for Chelsea, was named player of the year last season as the club finished 10th in the Premier League.
He has won 30 caps for Brazil since making his debut in 2011, scoring six goals.
Last week, Chelsea signed Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi from Marseille for a fee believed to be worth £33m, their first capture under new manager Antonio Conte.
Who is Willian
Willian Borges da Silva (born 9 August 1988), commonly known as Willian (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈwiliã]), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for English club Chelsea and the Brazil national team.
He started his career at Corinthians, before joining Shakhtar in August 2007 for a fee of €14 million. In his six years at the club, he won honours including four Ukrainian Premier League titles and the UEFA Cup in 2009. In 2013, he briefly signed for Anzhi Makhachkala before joining Chelsea for £32 million, winning the Premier League and Football League Cup in his second season in England. Willian made his debut for Brazil in 2011 and represented the country at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2015 Copa América, and the Copa America Centenario.
Contents
[hide]Club career[edit]
Corinthians[edit]
In 2007, after coming through their youth system, Willian started playing for the Corinthians first team, where he wore the number 10. He made five league appearances during his first season with the senior side as Corinthians finished mid-table. He made his breakthrough with Corinthians in the following campaign, featuring in eleven league matches, scoring twice, and made twenty-nine appearances in all competitions for the club, as they finished seventeenth in the Série A and were relegated.[3]
Shakhtar Donetsk[edit]
2007–08 season[edit]
On 23 August 2007, he signed a five-year contract with Shakhtar Donetsk for a transfer of €14 million.[4] Willian's debut for the club came in a 2–1 league victory overChornomorets Odesa on 15 September.[citation needed] He came on as a 57th-minute substitute, replacing fellow Brazilian Jádson. His first goal for the club came on 31 October in a 4–1 victory over Arsenal Kyiv in the Ukrainian Cup.[citation needed] He made his European debut in a 3–0 Champions League defeat to Italian side A.C. Milan on 6 November, coming on as a 73rd minute replacement for Răzvan Raț.[5] He ended his first season with 28 total appearances, 20 of which came in the league, and 1 goal. He helped Shakhtar to a Premier League and Ukrainian Cup double.[6] They won the league by three points over Dynamo Kyiv and also beat them 2–0 in the Ukrainian Cup Final.
2008–09 season[edit]
He played in the Super Cup Final penalty shoot-out victory over Dynamo Kyiv on 15 July, being replaced by Brandão after 46 minutes.[7] On 27 August, he scored a goal in a 3–1 victory over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.[8] On 1 November, he scored his first league goal for Shakhtar in a 3–1 win against Zorya Luhansk.[9] On 16 November, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv.[10] He scored the goal of the match in a 1–0 victory against Chornomorets Odesa on 25 April.[11] He played in Shakhtar's UEFA Cup Final 2–1 extra time defeat to Werder Bremen.[12] He helped Shakhtar to lift the last UEFA Cup title before it was reformatted and renamed as the UEFA Europa League. He made 52 appearances in the 2008–09 season, scoring eight goals. He appeared in all but one league match, scoring five goals. He also netted a goal in a Ukrainian Cup round of 16 tie against Zakarpattia Uzhhorod which Shakhtar won 4–1.
2009–10 season[edit]
Willian's first goal of the season came in a 6–1 Ukrainian Cup round of 32 victory against Dniester Ovidiopol on 15 August.[13] He made an appearance in Shakhtar's 1–0 extra time defeat to Spanish side Barcelona in the UEFA Super Cup on 28 August, being replaced by Julius Aghahowa in the 90th minute of the match.[14] On 17 September, he netted the second goal in a 4–1 win against Belgian side Club Brugge in agroup stage match in the Europa League.[15] He ended the season with seven goals in 39 appearances, including 22 appearances and five goals in the league. He helped Shakhtar to victory in the Premier League. They finished the league with 77 points, six ahead of nearest rivalsDynamo Kyiv.[16]
2010–11 season[edit]
Willian started the season with a goal in Shakhtar's emphatic 7–1 victory against Tavriya Simferopol in the Super Cup on 4 July.[17] He followed that up on 10 July with the second goal in the first league match of the season, a 2–0 victory over Kryvbas.[18] On 15 August, he netted the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Karpaty Lviv, scoring in first half stoppage time.[19] He also scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Illichivets Mariupol on 29 August.[20] On 8 March, he scored two goals in a Champions League last 16 tie against Roma, with Shakhtar winning 3–0 on the night and progressing to the quarter final after winning 6–2 on aggregate.[21] He played in the 2–0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Cup Final on 25 May, being replaced by Alex Teixeira after 77 minutes.[22] He ended the season with eight goals from 43 appearances, including 23 league appearances and three league goals. Shakhtar retained their league title with a score of 72 points, seven points ahead of second placed team, Dynamo Kyiv. They added the Ukrainian Cup and Super Cup titles to clinch a domestic treble.[23]
2011–12 season[edit]
The following season he played the full 90 minutes in the Super Cup match against Dynamo Kyiv on 5 July, however Shakhtar lost the match 3–1.[24] On 19 October, he scored the opening goal in a 2–2 draw with Russian team Zenit Saint Petersburg in the Champions League.[25] He scored the second goal in a 2–1 win over Illichivets Mariupol on 10 March.[26] On 6 May, he played the full match in a 2–1 extra time victory against Metalurh Donetsk in the Ukrainian Cup Final.[27] He finished the season with six goals, five in the league, from 37 appearances, 27 of which came in the league. Shakhtar secured the Premier League title for the third year in a row and the Ukrainian Cup title for a second time in a row.[28]
2012–13 season[edit]
Shakhtar opened the season with a 2–0 win against Metalurh Donetsk in the Super Cup, however Willian failed to make the squad for the match.[29] He had to wait until the fourth league match of the season, on 6 August, before making his first appearance of the season in a 4–0 win against Volyn Lutsk.[30] He replaced goalscorer Alex Teixeira after 46 minutes. On 19 August, he scored his first goal and made two assists in a comprehensive 5–1 victory against Chornomorets Odesa.[31] Willian scored both of Shakhtar's goals in their 3–2 loss over European championsChelsea in the group stage of the Champions League on 7 November.[32]
Anzhi Makhachkala[edit]
On 31 January 2013, Willian moved to Anzhi Makhachkala for a fee thought to be in the region of €35 million.[33][34] He originally chose to wear the number 10, however due to UEFA restrictions that states a player must wear a number used in the UEFA Champions league for the remainder of the season, he was forced the wear the number 88 he had chosen at Shakhtar Donetsk.[35] After moving to Russia, Willian said he was happy to join Anzhi and wished Shakhtar Donetsk great success in the future. On his debut, Willian was injured against Newcastle United in a Europa League match.[36] He scored his only Anzhi goal on 14 April 2013 in a 3–0 victory against Volga Nizhny Novgorod.
In August 2013, following restructuring at business level, Anzhi chose to transfer list their whole squad, including recent signing Willian.[37]
Chelsea[edit]
2013–14 season[edit]
On 25 August 2013, Premier League club Chelsea agreed a deal to sign Willian for a fee of £30 million, subject to a work permit hearing on 28 August 2013.[38] The deal was made official on 28 August 2013 and Willian signed a five-year contract receiving the number 22 shirt.[39] Although regulations usually state that non-European players must be regular internationals, Willian was given a work permit despite only having two caps at the time, as an FA panel deemed that were he not Brazilian he would be a regular.[40]
He made his debut on 18 September against Basel in the UEFA Champions League in a 1–2 home defeat.[41] After featuring in wins against Swindon Town and Steaua Bucharest in the League Cup and UEFA Champions League respectively, he made his league debut on 6 October away to Norwich City,[42] and scored in a 3–1 win.[43] He scored his second Chelsea goal on 1 January 2014 in a 3–0 victory at Southampton.[44] On 27 April 2014, Willian scored in Chelsea's 2–0 away victory against Liverpool.[45]
2014–15 season[edit]
.jpg)
Willian scored his first goal of the new Premier League season in a 3–0 win over Aston Villa on 27 September.[46] On 25 November, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for the club in a group stage match against FC Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen.[47]
In extra time in a Football League Cup semi-final against Liverpool on 28 January 2015, he took the free kick which was headed in byBranislav Ivanović to put Chelsea into the final.[48] On 1 March, Willian was selected to start against Tottenham Hotspur in the 2015 Football League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium; a match which Chelsea won 2–0 to win the trophy for the fifth time.[49]
Willian ended the 2014–15 season having appeared in 36 of Chelsea's 38 league matches as the club won its fifth league title.[50]
2015–16 season[edit]
.jpg)
On 16 September, Willian scored directly from a free kick to open the scoring as Chelsea defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv in the club's first game of the Champions League group stage.[51] He went on to score from free kicks in the team's next three matches; Premier League matches against Newcastle United and Southampton and a 2–1 loss at FC Porto in the Champions League.[52] On 4 November, Willian scored his fifth free kick of the season to give Chelsea a 2–1 win over FC Dynamo Kyiv,[53] and 20 days later he recorded a sixth in a 4–0 triumph at Maccabi, making him Europe's top free-kick scorer of the season.
On 9 December, Willian scored his fifth Champions League goal of the season in a 2–0 victory over FC Porto in Chelsea's final group match, ensuring the team qualified for the knockout stage as group winners.[54]
On 13 May 2016, Willian was named Chelsea's Fans' Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year for 2015–16.[57]
2016–17 season[edit]
On 12 July 2016, Willian signed a new four-year contract.[58]
International career[edit]
As a member of the U-20 Brazil team, he made his debut in the 2007 South American Youth Championship against Chile on 7 January 2007, which Brazil went on to win.[59] In 2007, he was also selected for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, but Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Spain.
On 10 November 2011, Willian made his senior debut for Brazil in a friendly match against Gabon.[60] On 16 November 2013, he scored his first international goal in a 5–0 win over Honduras in Miami, Florida.[61]
On 7 May 2014, Willian was selected as part of the 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[62] He came on at half-time in extra time of the Round of 16 match against Chile in Belo Horizonte for his Chelsea teammate Oscar, and took a penalty in the shootout which he put wide of the goal, although Brazil advanced nonetheless.[63]
At the 2015 Copa América, Willian assisted Roberto Firmino's decisive goal in the 2–1 win over Venezuela in Santiago, a result which sent Brazil into the quarter-finals as group winners.[64]
Style of play[edit]
A fast, agile, hard-working, and technically gifted player, Willian is known for his quick feet, acceleration, and explosive style of play, which allows him to dribble past opponents at speed whilst keeping close control of the ball; in typically Brazilian style, he has also been known to pull off feints and tricks, such as the elastico, in order to confuse and beat defenders.[65][66][67][68] He primarily plays as an attacking midfielderor as a winger,[69][70][71] and his high stamina, vision, and creativity enables him to link-up play between the deeper midfielders and the forwards, and create goalscoring chances.[67][70] During the 2015–16 season, while at Chelsea, he showed his prowess at direct free kicks,[72]with almost all his goals coming from set pieces.[70] However, in his third season, with the usually effective Eden Hazard not scoring any goals, Willian improved the statistics of his attacking game, which led many to call him Chelsea's top performer of the season.[69][73]
Personal life[edit]
Willian is married to Vanessa Martins. They have twin daughters called Valentina and Manuella.[74][75][76]
In April 2016, Willian was named in the Panama Papers.[77]
Career statistics[edit]
Club[edit]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[nb 1] | League Cup[nb 2] | Continental[nb 3] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Corinthians | 2006 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 33 | 2 | ||
| Total | 20 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 41 | 2 | ||
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2007–08 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | 2[a] | 0 | — | 28 | 1 | ||
| 2008–09 | 29 | 5 | 5 | 1 | — | 17[b] | 2 | 1[c] | 0 | 52 | 8 | ||
| 2009–10 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 1 | — | 13[d] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 7 | ||
| 2010–11 | 28 | 3 | 4 | 2 | — | 10[a] | 2 | 1[c] | 1 | 43 | 8 | ||
| 2011–12 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | 6[a] | 1 | 1[c] | 0 | 37 | 6 | ||
| 2012–13 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 6[a] | 4 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 7 | ||
| Total | 140 | 20 | 24 | 6 | — | 54 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 221 | 37 | ||
| Anzhi Makhachkala | 2012–13 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 3[e] | 0 | — | 13 | 1 | ||
| 2013–14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Total | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | |||
| Chelsea | 2013–14 | 25 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11[a] | 0 | — | 42 | 4 | |
| 2014–15 | 36 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 7[a] | 1 | — | 49 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | 35 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8[a] | 5 | 1[f] | 0 | 49 | 11 | |
| Total | 96 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 140 | 19 | |
| Career total | 267 | 34 | 40 | 8 | 25 | 0 | 83 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 419 | 59 | |
- ^ a b c d e f g Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- ^ Eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, nine appearances in UEFA Cup
- ^ a b c Appearance in Ukrainian Super Cup
- ^ One appearance in UEFA Super Cup, two appearances in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- ^ Appearance in FA Community Shield
International[edit]
- As of 12 June 2016. [80]
| Brazil national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2011 | 2 | 0 |
| 2012 | — | — |
| 2013 | 2 | 1 |
| 2014 | 14 | 3 |
| 2015 | 14 | 2 |
| 2016 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 38 | 6 |
International goals[edit]
- Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first.
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 16 November 2013 | Sun Life Stadium, Miami, United States |  Honduras | 4–0 | 5–0 | Friendly |
| 2. | 3 June 2014 | Estádio Serra Dourada, Goiânia, Brazil |  Panama | 4–0 | 4–0 | |
| 3. | 9 September 2014 | Metlife Stadium, New Jersey, United States |  Ecuador | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
| 4. | 12 November 2014 | Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey |  Turkey | 3–0 | 4–0 | |
| 5. | 13 October 2015 | Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza, Brazil |  Venezuela | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 6. | 2–0 |
Honours[edit]
Club[edit]
- Corinthians
- Shakhtar Donetsk
- Ukrainian Premier League: 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
- Ukrainian Cup: 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12
- Ukrainian Super Cup: 2008, 2010, 2012
- UEFA Cup: 2008–09
- Chelsea
International[edit]
- Brazil U20
- Brazil
No comments:
Post a Comment