Willian would only leave Chelsea if kicked out, says David Luiz

Commitment | David Luiz says Willian (pictured) loves Chelsea
Action Images via Reuters
Vaishali Bhardwaj6 August 2018

David Luiz has backed Willian to remain at Chelsea this summer, saying his compatriot would only leave the club he loves for an offer "totally out of reality" or if he was kicked out.

Willian has been the subject of interest from Barcelona and Manchester United in recent months after spending the past two seasons fighting to win a regular starting spot at Chelsea under previous manager Antonio Conte.

The winger, who impressed for his nation Brazil at this summer's World Cup in Russia, returned late for pre-season training because of passport-related issues but made his first appearance for Chelsea in their 2-0 Community Shield loss to Manchester City, after which, he declared his commitment to the club.

And Luiz, who is close friends with Willian, suggested the 29-year-old will stay at Stamford Bridge this season because he loves Chelsea.

In Pictures | Chelsea vs Man City | Community Shield | 05/08/2018

1/41

Speaking to reporters at Wembley on Sunday, Luiz said of Willian: "He's a fantastic player and a fantastic friend.

"I've known Willian a long time, since I was eight. He loves Chelsea – he played at Wembley after the World Cup, he already showed his quality.

"Since the beginning, he told me he loved Chelsea. To leave, he would have to do something totally out of reality or if Chelsea really wanted to kick him out.

"But this is not the reality – Chelsea loves Willian, and Willian loves Chelsea, so that's great."

Maurizio Sarri replaced Conte as manager of Chelsea in July, and Willian revealed he has held positive conversations with the Italian.

"This is just the beginning, I've been only in three training sessions. We have a new season with a new philosophy, a new style of playing with a new manager," Willian said.

"Everything is new for everyone. But this team has everything to improve in all aspects. The people know we have a lot of competitions to play. If we work hard, we can achieve a lot of things.

"I always told him I'm really happy playing for Chelsea. I never talk about me leaving the club. This is a new era with the new boss and our first conversations have gone really well and I hope to have a lot of victories for us."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in