WillianAfter an hour of sharing stories about his amazing career, he now wants to talk about what he will do with his time after football is over.
“I want to be a football agent,” he tells The Athletic. “I have started studying, just slowly. I can’t do too much now because I’m still playing. But I’m still learning, so I’ll continue when I’m done.
“I have had a lot of experiences I can take with me into the profession. It’s hard for young players and I want to help them. I want to give my advice, to explain what to do in certain situations.”
Fulfilling that ambition is still some way off — Willian is loving being back in the Premier LeagueJust signed for Fulham, his third London club — but few players are better equipped to become an agent, given the variety of events he has been through.
It’s the 2019-20 season and Willian is performing as well as ever for Chelsea. Talks of a new contract have stopped because the club offers only a 2-year deal, while rivals offer a longer term. Arsenal are prepared to pay him a weekly wage of £200,000 ($228,000) over three years to join them as a free agent.
He chooses the additional security Arsenal offer, even though he had seven very happy years at Stamford Bridge. He decides to leave Arsenal for nothing after just 12 months.
“I think I’m maybe the only player who has done something like this,” he says with a self-deprecating smile. “Any other player in my situation would have stayed until the end of the contract and kept picking up the money. But I’m not like this. Money is not everything in the world. To feel happy, I must feel motivated to train. I wasn’t having that there so I decided to leave.”
Statistics aren’t the only way to judge a player but a return of one goal and seven assists in 37 appearances was way down on the kind of numbers Willian was expected to produce in north London.
The 34-year-old doesn’t want to go into all the details over why the move didn’t work out but did provide one of the causes for his struggles.
“For most of the season, we were playing without fans (because of COVID-19),” he says. “I didn’t see Arsenal fans. I think I needed to feel the energy of the crowd. This was not only a difficult time for me but for everyone around the world. It is difficult to play at a club without your fans.
“On my last day there, I spoke with the manager Mikel Arteta. I thanked him greatly for all he did for my, and for bringing me here to Arsenal. I just wished him the best. Arsenal has my greatest respect and he is a competent manager. They are doing well. They have excellent players. They can achieve good things this season.”
Another factor that drove him to end the lucrative deal he had with Arsenal was the chance to return to his first club, Corinthians, Brazil. Even so, it took some convincing from his family, including Vanessa, to believe that it was the right thing.
“It was a really long conversation with her,” he admits, breaking into laughter at the memory of the exchange. “A lot of people said to me, ‘Are you crazy?! You have to stay, you can’t lose this money’. Many people, including those from Brazil, told me this. They’d say, ‘Don’t come, don’t come, you have to stay! You’re crazy!’. It was something I wanted, to try it, to play for Corinthians. This is the club that I grew up playing for. So that’s why I left. I was comfortable with my choice.”
Unfortunately, this decision didn’t pay off either. Corinthians fans weren’t satisfied with his tally of one goal and six assists in 45 games, although Willian is adamant he was judged unfairly.
“I was playing well at Corinthians,” he says. “The numbers weren’t the ones I expected in terms of goals and assists, but I still think my performances were good. Some of my problems were with injury and adapting in a new country. It was a lot of games every day. There was no rest for me. The pitches were also not as good as here. Although I had my moments of difficulty, I was able to help the team and do the normal things that I do. People only focused on the assists and goals. They didn’t look at what I was doing for the team.
“Football is not just about goals and assists. People are looking for these things when judging a player. For example, sometimes you can play unbelievably, and you don’t score or make an assist. People then just say, ‘You played horribly’ or ‘You’re not good enough’. Sometimes you can have a player who touches the ball just five times, scores twice and it’s like, ‘This guy was amazing, blah, blah, blah’. It is like this in football, especially in Brazil.”
Willian’s time at Corinthians last season was disrupted by injury (Photo: Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images)
Willian was among many who have been criticized on social media for being underperforming. Some of the abuse took a more sinister and threatening turn.
“The situation in Brazil was difficult when we lost a few games,” he says. “In one game, I didn’t have my best performance and people started to go on social media and attacked my family. Then, I began to consider leaving Corinthians and returning to. England. It is a place I know, and I am surrounded by players who have encouraged me to return. I knew that the Premier League was the best league in the world.
“The past year in Brazil I did a lot of thinking — do I want to live there or in England? There is no question in my mind that I want to live in London. It’s a great place for my family and I. Everyone is there, I have friends. London is my home. It’s where I love to be. Here, I have everything.
“As a family, we feel we can enjoy life here. If you have a bad result, it’s not going to have a bad impact on your personal life. In Brazil, if you lose a game you can’t leave your house. You have to stay home, you can’t go to a restaurant afterwards. That’s the difference.”
It takes some bravery to admit you’ve made a mistake, as Willian did in successive years over those transfers to Arsenal and Corinthians. However, this is a man that was always willing to make big calls from an early age.
Willian was just 19 years old when he decided to leave the comforts of Brazil, and Corinthians. Even though he only had one season of regular first-team soccer, there were quite a few offers from foreign clubs. Shakhtar Donetsk offered one of these positions. Ukraine. It was not surprising that the teenager needed some convincing.
“I had played just 10 months as a pro,” he explains. “I remember I was in a conversation with my dad about some offers from Europe. Shakhtar was among them. I told him, ‘I don’t want to go to Ukraine, it’s too cold there!’. Shakhtar insisted that I visit Ukraine to experience the culture. My dad and I drove there for three days, to see the training grounds and the city.
“We liked it, the project, everything. They were playing in Champions LeagueEvery season Fernandinho, Luiz Adrio and Fernandinho were also there.. On my last day, they could see I still wasn’t sure. A director noticed my face and saw the doubt. He asked, ‘What do you want to stay, more money or what?’. I said, ‘It’s not about money, it’s such a big move to make from Brazil to Ukraine. It is so different’. It is so different.” I signed the contract because it was the best place in the Champions League. I could also go to England or Spain after signing the contract. It’s a good door there to go to a big league.
“I ended up staying five and a half years. It was supposed to take only two. That was my goal. It took me one-year to adjust to all things, language, cold, and training. It was hard. It was freezing cold outside. It was an enjoyable time. It was a great team. We beat Chelsea at the Champions League in 2012 I won so many trophies (eight — four league titles, three Ukrainian Cups and the UEFA Cup).”
Shakhtar haven’t played a game at their own ground in Donetsk since 2014 due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a conflict that increased in ferocity earlier this year. They will be playing in Kyiv, their home fixture, but they have been competitive. They qualified for this season’s Champions League and They received four points in their two first group games(Home matches are being held in Warsaw and Poland).
Naturally, Willian is thinking about his former club and what they’re going through. “I still know a few of the people there,” he says. “I played with Darijo Srna and he is director of football there now. A few of the former players, Taras Stepanenko and Andriy Pyatov, are still there.
“It is a difficult situation for them. I feel sad for them and Ukraine because there are good people there — it’s a good country, a country that wants to improve. It’s a very difficult situation.”
Willian didn’t get the move to a bigger club from Shakhtar in the end. He had a brief spell at Russia’s Anzhi Makhachkala first. The Premier League called in 2013, however.
Willian still enjoys talking about the reasons he chose Chelsea, despite being asked numerous times. Tottenham Hotspur. He also knows that Chelsea supporters made the saga a chant.
Spurs believed Willian was their playerThey lost out to their competitors in the eleventh minute. What happened exactly? The 34-yearold was happy to reminisce.
He says: “I was in London for two weeks, waiting, waiting for Tottenham to decide because they were in a situation where Gareth Bale was in the process of leaving them to join Real Madrid. LiverpoolWe were also interested. I wasn’t sure about Chelsea. They’d shown interest but it wasn’t so firm at first.
“Chelsea came on the day I was going to sign the contract with Spurs. I was at Tottenham’s training ground to finalise the deal when the call came. My agent said to me, ‘Chelsea just called me and they want you’. I said, ‘OK, I want to go there!’. I then left the training ground, and returned to the hotel. It was a difficult situation because I’d agreed more or less to join Spurs. My mind was always on Chelsea. I was only happy to go to Chelsea once the deal between Anzhi, Chelsea was done. It was the best decision of my career.”
Willian’s most successful time in England came during seven years with Chelsea between 2013 and 2020 (Photo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
This statement is true. He was awarded five major trophies, including the Premier League trophies of 2015 and 2017. There was also a very credible 63 goals and 62 assists in 336 appearances — better than one goal involvement every three games.
Willian was used to Chelsea changing a lot. He had played under five different head coaches over seven years. But seeing what’s transpired there in 2022 has taken some getting used to, with owner Roman Abramovich selling to the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium after being In March, the UK government approved this sanction. Influential director Marina Granovskaia has gone too.
“I couldn’t believe it when this situation happened,” he says. “For me, when you talk about Chelsea, you just see Roman and Marina. It’s been difficult for everyone inside the club.
“But this is where (former team-mate) Cesar AzpilicuetaThis will be very helpful. He is an excellent player and an important member of the club. He’s been there for 10 years. With his experience, he can help the young players that play there at the moment.”
Graham Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel as manager. Willian believes Azpilicueta’s presence will help during this upheaval as well.
“He knows what to do in this situation,” Willian continues. “Chelsea is a big club, one of the best in the world. Chelsea is fighting for something every single year, even if they have to change their manager. They are always there. In seven years, I had Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarr. It almost became normal. But it didn’t stop us, we always fought for something.
“It’s hard to win the Premier League. It’s even harder now because of Manchester City. Liverpool, too, is the team that everyone wants to defeat. But this season there are a lot of teams who have improved, so it will be harder for everyone.”
Willian will play for Chelsea on February 4, form and availability permitting. This is his first appearance since his departure in 2020. He was an unutilized substitute in Arsenal’s win 1-0 last year.
Fulham supporters will be desperate to win. Fulham fans will be desperate for victory, as it is their biggest fixture of season.
They shouldn’t worry about Willian having split loyalties. “I won’t have a problem,” he says. “If I have to score against them, I will score. I won’t celebrate, I have to respect them. Since I was there seven years, I have great respect for the club as well as the fans. I will play my best against them, and I will do my best to support Fulham. They have made my family and me feel so welcome. They were very responsive when I signed. I want to repay them.”
Get Deeper
Fulham was hounded out Corinthians. What kind of Willian is that?
Fulham was the main pusher to sign Willian after he left Corinthians this summer. Both parties agreed that it was the right move after spending a few weeks training together.
One of the things that helped convince Willian was seeing the fine football they’re playing under Marco Silva at close hand and the way they have started the Premier League season. Although most pundits expected them to be relegated, they are now in sixth place, one point ahead of Chelsea.
Already Willian is making an impact. On the Brazilian’s first start for his new side, he helped them secure a 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest. He provided the corner. Tosin AdarabioyoTo level the scores at 1-1, he returned home and played a key role in the build up to the match. Joao Palhinha’s strike to put Fulham in the lead. His off-the ball run was what created space. Harrison Reed’s goal in the 60th minute, too.
“The first two or three sessions at Fulham were very different and something I had to get used to again,” he says. “They were different from what I was doing in Brazil. There, the football is more calm. It is stronger and faster here. I had to adapt again but it’s been great for me. It’s a great place to be.
Willian is playing for his third London club and feels at home in England’s capital city (Photo: Simon Johnson)
“Before I signed, I had some conversations with the manager about everything — the positions I can play, the way the team is playing. He is an excellent coach, and a pleasant guy. I can play anywhere, from the left flank to the right, and even as a No 10. At Chelsea, I played more on the right but I don’t have a problem where I play.
“We are doing well at the moment, the team is playing good. It’s a club that can’t keep going up, down, up and down again. Fulham can achieve great things this season, starting with staying in the Premier League and fighting for a good spot in the table.
“One of my motivations is to help them become an established team in the Premier League. I’m a player who always wants to compete, fight for something. That’s why I also want Fulham to fight for something.”
Fulham’s striker is one of the reasons they have started so well. Aleksandar MitrovicHe has scored six goals in seven Premier League matches. Willian already loves what he sees in the Serbian.
“Aleksandar is a very good player,” he says. “He reminds me of Didier Drogba and Diego Costa. He is strong, can hold the ball, attack space, and can score goals similar to them. We already have a good understanding and we are working to improve it. Every week and every game we play together, it will come.”
Fulham offered Willian a one-year contract, but if Willian does well, an extension may be possible. There are some who doubt his ability to play after his spells at Arsenal and Corinthians. He is confident he can still play, pointing out Brazil team-mate Thiago SilvaAs an example, we can look up to, who excels at Chelsea (he turns 38 next week).
“I have a lot more to show,” he says. “I can still play at a good level. That’s why I wanted to come back to England because I know I can play for at least another two or three years here. I’m 34 now but still have a lot to offer.
“My primary focus is not proving it to those who doubt me. I must prove it to my family, friends, and myself. I want every day to show that I can still play at high levels in training and game.
“How long do I think I can play for? Maybe until I’m 39-40. I’m going year by year. Playing in the Premier League is difficult to play until you’re 40. Thiago Silva is my inspiration. He’s 38. He’s playing good. He’s an inspiration to me. We are close and we will hang out in London together now I am back.”
No international football will help Willian’s chances of continuing his career. Willian won the last of his 70 caps for Brazil in 2019 and although he hasn’t officially retired or given up on making the World CupHe has accepted that it is unlikely that he will be featured for them again.
You can see that he really wants to make England his permanent residence as we end our conversation. British citizenship is required for him to stay, and he can do so until he passes the test. Although it took him three times to pass the exam, it was well worth it.
“This is where I belong,” he concludes. “The family is happy and I want to protect my family. They are the most important people in my life.”
(Top image: Eamonn Dlton for The Athletic, photos by Getty Images
