Lions beware: Willian will fight to keep his place ahead of Juan Cuadrado!

At the end of September, Willian famously declared open season on all lions in and around the Cobham area.  "I have to prove myself on a daily basis at Chelsea. I have to kill a lion each time and I am dedicated to that," he asserted.  Seeing as how he's been very much first-choice on the right wing ever since, I think we can rest assured that he's a man of his word.

With André Schürrle and Mohamed Salah both gone as collateral damage, Willian's newest challenger is the equally quick Juan Cuadrado.  Unfortunately for any surviving big cats, Willian will not simply let the new man waltz in and take his hard-earned place away without a fight.

"It is true that with the arrival of Cuadrado, the competition for a place in the squad increases. But I will always fight for my place."

"As I've said before, I can never feel comfortable otherwise another player comes and takes my position.  I always want to improve and that is why I always try to work hard to keep my place in the squad."

-Willian; source: Evening Standard

What's bad for the lion population should be great for us fans and the manager.  More competition should equal selection headaches, selection headaches should equal more rotation, more rotation should equal a more rested squad, a more rested squad should equal more high intensity performances, and more high intensity performances should equal more wins.  And more wins are good.

Very good, even!

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NB. As usual, no lions or people dressing up as lions were harmed in the making of this story.