Willian scored in Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Huddersfield on Tuesday evening (Picture: Getty)
Willian scored in Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Huddersfield on Tuesday evening (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea star Willian has told Chelsea fans not to panic amid the speculation that continues to link him with a January move to Manchester United.

The Brazil international has struggled to cement a place in Antonio Conte’s starting line-up this season, having played only a bit-part role in Chelsea’s title-winning campaign last term.

The former Shakhtar Donetsk star confirmed talks took place in the summer between his representatives and Manchester United and he is said to remain a target of Jose Mourinho’s, whom he worked under at Stamford Bridge.

Barcelona has also been mentioned as a potential destination for the 29-year-old should the Catalan giants fail to secure deals for their primary targets Philppe Coutinho and Mesut Ozil.

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Chelsea remain 11 points behind Manchester City despite Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Huddersfield (Picture: Getty)
Chelsea remain 11 points behind Manchester City despite Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Huddersfield (Picture: Getty)

Willian, however, took the opportunity to impress on a rare start on Tuesday evening, assisting Tiemoue Bakayoko’s opening goal in a 3-1 win before scoring only his second Premier League goal of the season.

‘The fans can be calm [about him leaving]. I am a Chelsea player and I am very pleased with the way I have been playing in recent weeks,’ said Willian afterwards.

‘When I play I always try to do my best. I try to help the team to play well, to score goals and make assists. Against Huddersfield I did that with my team-mates.’
Despite the victory, the champions remain a distant 11 points behind Manchester City and Willian believes his side are paying the price for shock defeat against Burnley, West Ham and Crystal Palace.

He said: ‘I feel sad because we lost these (three) games. The team that want to be champions can’t lose these kind of games.

‘We know we didn’t play like we usually do. We didn’t play these matches very well because we made mistakes and the opposition scored goals.

‘Am I frustrated because the gap should be closer? Yes. It is a big gap but we have to fight until the end.

‘There are a lot of games to play and anything can happen. We will never give up. We have to always continue.’

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