Jose Mourinho has set his sights on Willian, reports The Sun, with the paper claiming it has it on good authority that the Manchester United manager “wants to land the Chelsea star this summer”.
Tuesday night’s shockingly supine exit from the Champions League at the hands of Sevilla has convinced Mourinho that he needs to take a seriously sharp axe to his squad at the end of the season, to clear the way for some fresh and more ferocious blood.
Top of his shopping list is Willian, who has been one of Chelsea’s few reliable performers this season. The Brazilian winger was apparently courted by Mourinho last summer but he was “told there was no chance of him leaving”.
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Nonetheless, he intends to make another play for the 29-year-old in a couple of months, according to an Old Trafford source.
“Jose is still interested,” the whistleblower told the Sun. “The club had a sniff last year but Matic was the only possibility. He does not have long left on his contract. The boss is a huge fan of his, he is always pull of praise.”
But is Willian simply using the rumour mill to squeeze a bigger and better pay packet from the Blues? The Sun reports that he “wants to sit down with Chelsea at the end of the season for talks over a new contract”, and the prospect of the Blues losing Willian to an arch rival will surely only strengthen his bargaining position.
If, however, Chelsea refuse to cave in to his wage demands it’s expected they will slap a £60m price tag around his neck.
Meanwhile the Metro claims that losing to Sevilla may have been the last straw for David de Gea.
Although United have been in preliminary talks in recent months with the gloveman over a new deal Tuesday’s Champions League exit “has left the Spaniard questioning his options”.
Top of those of options is a move to Real Madrid, a club who have made no secret of their wish to sign the Spaniard.