Chelsea pushed hard to land Shakhtar Donetsk attacking midfielder Willian during the January transfer window, but eventually saw their bid of nearly $27 million (US) rejected by the Ukrainian club.
As we near the summer, Shakhtar are making their price known as Chelsea inevitably prepare to renew their interest.
According to Setanta, Shakhtar will not entertain any bids lower than $38.6 million (US) for the 23-year-old Brazilian.
That number means the Ukrainians are looking to more than double their money on a player they paid $18.5-million (US) to pry away from Corinthians in the summer of 2007.
Willian has proven to be a big-game threat in his nearly 200 appearances for Shakhtar. He's starred during the club's three championship seasons since his arrival and was a stand-out performer in Shakhtar's run to the 2009 UEFA Cup (now Europa League) title.
He has scored 28 goals in all competitions over the last four seasons, including a memorable one against Roma in the Champions League that you can see here.
Willian has started to make waves on the national stage as well.
In 2007, he was part of the Under-20 squad that won the South American Youth Championship and was again called upon for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup (where Brazil were eliminated in the quarterfinals).
The full national team has since begun to take notice, and Willian earned his first cap for the senior team last November during a friendly against Gabon.
If a move to Chelsea materializes, Willian would join up with fellow Brazilians Ramires and David Luiz in the Blues' locker room.
Jason Arnott David Clarkson Patrick Davis Tyler Eckford Mark Fraser Andy Greene
No comments:
Post a Comment