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If Willian and the Brazilian FA get their way, the Chelsea man will get to look forward to a summer filled with competitive football and very little else. Confirming the report from the middle of last week, Willian has revealed to ESPN Brasil that the CBF did indeed ask Chelsea to release Willian for both the Copa América Centenario (June 3-26) and the Men's Football Olympic Tournament in Rio De Janeiro (August 4-20).
Willian (#CFC) told ESPN Brasil that the Brazilian FA has asked Chelsea to release him for the Olympics (besides Copa América).
— Paulo Freitas (@Cynegeticus) April 16, 2016
While that does leave July open for Willian to hook up with the rest of the Chelsea gang at the training camp in Austria and the start of the USA Tour, the timing of the Olympic tournament presents a big conflict with the start of the Premier League season (August 13) and Chelsea's preparations for it. If Brazil make the final, Willian would not be ready to go until September-ish, at the earliest. Not to mention, he really should get some rest at some point — he's shown obvious signs of fatigue for several weeks now.
"Everyone knows my desire to play both championships. But of course we do not want to fight and put Chelsea in a difficult situation. And I do not want to fight with the CBF. I hope CBF and Chelsea enter into an agreement [about my] release."
-Willian; source: ESPN Brasil via Google Translate
Brazil are clearly placing tremendous emphasis on winning their first gold medal in men's football, perhaps even more so than the emphasis they're placing on the special Copa América tournament. Neymar and Miranda are the other two over-23 players set to be included in Dunga's olympic squad, but the later start of the Spanish and Italian seasons (August 21) would make that slightly less disruptive for their respective clubs. That Willian would be the third and final overage player include would be a great honor and recognition for him, but would leave Chelsea and Conte with a tough decision, especially at the start of what needs to be a much-much better season than this one.