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Chelsea set to beat Tottenham to Willian signing

Oh, Jose, you cad you.

Claudio Villa

So yeah, remember that fantastic talent Willian that we had all wrapped up yesterday? Turns out Chelsea want him a little more for some reason and are about to snatch him at the last moment, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed.

"I know what the player wants, so in this moment we cannot hide. That is a possibility."

"We have to do a medical."

So, I guess that kinda sucks, in a way. Willian was a player who could've brought that little spark of creativity to this current Spurs side and help us to keep our play fluid, cohesive and punchy, and losing a figure of potential importance to a rival always hurts. However, there's plenty of reasons why I'm not going to lose sleep over this move. A key one is that watching Chelsea drop £30m on a player who doesn't really add any anything to their chances of excelling in any obvious way is a pretty dispassionate experience for me these days, particularly in the wake of Marko Marin's short career at the club.

Secondly of all, I still think that even without Willian, what the club currently has in place is the bones and flesh of a very, very strong side which can compete for good honours this season. Though the extra flair of an advanced playmaker would as I say have made us an immensely stronger unit, I'm highly encouraged otherwise by how well Etienne Capoue is settling in in the Viera link-man role, how much urgency and spark young players like Andros Townsend look to be able to bring to the side, and most importantly how confident Roberto Soldado looks in the face of goal right now. We cannot underestimate the impact our newest signings and returning players are going to have this season- together, they comprise a squad that is in rude health (position for position the best in my lifetime, easily), and all that remains is for AVB to get them singing off the right hymn sheet. The cake misses out on a cherry topping this time, but the cake itself remains delicious.

All of that said, it really, really wouldn't hurt for us to bring in a flair player who operates out of an advanced position, so if you feel like dusting yourself down and resuming from where you left off, Mr. Levy, that would be great.

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