Jorginho advocates for Willian contract extension at Chelsea

As things stand, Willian’s time at Stamford Bridge is ending after seven trophy-filled years. If the 2019-20 season ends up getting canceled because of COVID-19, he may have already played his final game for the club, even!

While he never quite lived up to fans’ expectations set by his dominant performance at the Bridge while with Shakhtar Donetsk, when he put Roberto Di Matteo’s defending Champions of Europe to the sword in 2012, he was almost always one of the first names on the team sheet.

All Chelsea head coaches in those seven years — and, as usual, there have been a few! — rated him highly and gave him plenty of minutes and appearances. In fact, a few months ago he became just the 37th player in club history to amass 300 appearances, and the 8th one from “overseas”. That doesn’t just happen without some reason.

If Chelsea were to move on from Willian, it could be seen as just natural progression — the Blues are getting younger and Willian is not. But some might see such a move as still a bit too premature, including Jorginho, who talked up his teammate while giving an interview to Esporte Interativo.

“It would be really a shame to lose a player like Willian. Not just the player, but the person he is. The guy, the professional he is.”

“[...] it would be a shame because apart from the potential, the quality that he has, which is absurd, that for me he really is above average, he’s a phenomenon, it’s something that Chelsea really shouldn’t lose. So I really hope that this contract renewal comes out.”

Jorginho claims he doesn’t actually have any inside information, especially with Willian spending his lockdown a continent away back in Brazil, but the Chelsea Vice-captain’s hoping to be able to count on Will-I-an’s quality and experience next season as well. That latter is undoubtedly important to Jorginho, who recently named in no uncertain terms Chelsea’s lack of experience as one of key areas we need to address going forward.

“I don’t know what’s going on, honestly. Even more now, in quarantine, where there’s no contact, where it’s even more complicated to call to talk about it.

“So I just hope that this renovation comes out and that we don’t lose a player like him. It would be a pity both for the locker room, for the person he is, and for the field, for the excellent player he is.”

-Jorginho; source: Esporte Interativo via Sport Witness

For now, Willian and Chelsea remain at an impasse over extension terms. But a lot could yet happen between now and the start of next season.