Willian confirms Chelsea exit as he nears Arsenal move
Willian has confirmed he is leaving Chelsea, with Arsenal close to completing his signing on a three-year deal.
The 32-year-old leaves Stamford Bridge at the end of his contract after a seven-year spell, with Chelsea only willing to offer him a two-year deal rather than the player’s desired three years.
He wrote an open letter to fans confirming his exit following Chelsea’s defeat to Bayern in the last 16 of the Champions League.
„They were seven wonderful years. In August 2013 when I received the offer from Chelsea, I was convinced that this was where I had to play,“ he wrote.
„Today I am certain that it was the best of decisions. There were so many happy times, some sad, there were trophies and it was always very intense.
„Yet, beyond the trophies, I learnt a lot about myself. I developed a great deal, becoming a better player and a better person.
„With each training session, with each game, with every minute spent in the dressing room, I was always learning.
„I am really grateful to the Chelsea fans for the affectionate way they welcomed me at Stamford Bridge and their support throughout my time at the club.
„There was also criticism, which is normal, what is important though is that both the affection and criticism drove me to always give my all in every training session, every game, to be constantly improving until my very last minute in a Chelsea shirt!
„The time has now come to move on. I am certainly going to miss my team-mates. I will miss all the staff at the club who’ve always treated me like a son and I will miss the fans.
„I leave with my head held high, safe in the knowledge that I won things here and always did my best in a Chelsea shirt!
„My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you and God bless you!“
Arsenal in pole position to sign Willian
Arsenal moved into pole position to sign the Brazil international by offering a three-year contract earlier this week, and are on the verge of beating off competition from Barcelona and Inter Miami.
Along with the length of the deal, joining Mikel Arteta’s rejuvenated side and the chance to work with fellow Brazilian Edu are the reasons Arsenal are favourites to secure Willian’s signature.
Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard has insisted he will have no hard feelings if Willian leaves the club.
„It actually doesn’t matter about disappointment from any party in this situation,“ said Lampard, ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League tie against Bayern Munich on Saturday.
„I haven’t got an answer for you (if Willian will leave) first and foremost, because Willian remains our player at the moment.
„In terms of being disappointed, certainly as a club I think we have done everything we can to explain to Willian, and mine and his relationship is really close.“
Willian made 47 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions and finished the season in fine form, with four Premier League goals after the restart taking his tally for the season to nine.
Analysis: ‘Willian wants one last big deal’
Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol:
„Willian wants one big final contract – ideally a three-year deal to take him to 35. Chelsea would like to keep him, though they’re not going to offer him three years.
„At the moment, it looks like Arsenal is his most likely destination but he is a free agent and at his age, realistically, you’re likely to go where there is the most money and longest contract on offer.
„He’s got a great injury record so his agent will be saying, ‘Don’t worry about his fitness’.“
Aubameyang set to sign new deal
Arsenal’s pursuit of Willian comes as they attempt to seal a new deal for captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is understood to be close to extending his contract, which is currently set to expire in the summer of 2021.
Aubameyang, 31, scored 22 goals in the Premier League last season and netted twice in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
Since his move to Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018, he has scored 54 goals in 85 Premier League games.
The news of the Arsenal’s offers to Aubameyang and Willian comes after the club made a statement revealing their plan to make 55 members of staff redundant, including international recruitment specialist Francis Cagigao.
Arsenal, who will hold meetings with staff on Friday, said one of the key reasons cutbacks are being made is to „maintain investment in the team“.
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.
