Willian is coming down to the final few months of his contract at Chelsea. In normal circumstances, he’d likely be playing his final three months of the season, before departing for greener pastures in July.
However, due to the global sporting stoppage as a result of the new Coronavirus, Willian, and countless other players may face a situation where their contracts will run out as leagues are trying to finish the current season. According to Willian, he has no problem with that.
“I want to finish the (season) and be loyal to the club, like they did with me,” Willian said in an interview from home with Esporte Interativo. “As always, I am ready to give the best for my team, whatever my contractual situation, even for free.”
UEFA is reportedly currently considering different options as leagues hope to restart in the future once the spread of the virus is contained. The best case scenario is to finish by June 30, when most contracts in Europe expire, but there could also be the possibility of extending contracts to July 31 or August 31.
It’s a big ethical issue for most players. If their contract is set to run out, or it does in the run up to finishing their season, do they have any motivation to play hard, or play at all? What if the player has been offered a pre-contract at another club, and doesn’t want to lose that opportunity? It’s a huge legal quandary that UEFA and the European leagues will have to handle, if we can even resume the leagues in the first place.
In any case, though, it looks as though Willian is happy to put off a future contract to stay with Chelsea and lead them into a top four position yet again.
In other related news, Willian has reportedly asked Chelsea to go to Brazil to be with his family. The 31-year-old winger has been in quarantine along with the rest of the Chelsea squad for the past week, but with the league now being suspended through at least the end of April, Willian has asked the club if he can leave to return home to spend time with his family.
It’s unclear whether he’d be approved of that request, and the health impacts of his departure. Will he have to be quarantined upon arrival in Brazil, and then return to London in a month or two? There’s plenty of questions that have few answers.
Willian willing to play for free to finish season with Chelsea originally appeared on NBCSports.com
