I spent eight hours doing Spurs medical then joined rivals – one director threatened me.
Chelsea like to remind London rivals Tottenham let Willian slip through their grasp.
In 2013, in one of the more brutal transfer hijackings the Premier League has seen, the Blues – Champions League winners in 2012 – paraded their transfer might when they pinched the Brazil international.
Spurs were very interested in signing, then a 25-year-old Anzhi Makhachkala star and manager Andre Villas-Boas believed a deal was pretty much over the line.
A medical was scheduled for Willian, a player he hoped to bring to the club using some of the money they got from selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for £85m that summer.
But then Chelsea came calling. Former owner Roman Abramovich contacted Anzhi owner, Suleyman Kerimov, and the rest is history.
Liverpool were also said to be interested, but Chelsea eventually signed Willian on a five-year contract in a move worth around £30million.
In 2018, he told Brazilian TV show Resenha that signing for the Blues was actually his preference and revealed his agent, Kia Joorabchian, informed him of the Blues’ offer when he arrived at Spurs’ training ground for his scheduled medical as is customary before players sign for new clubs.
“I said ‘So make do, I’ll get back in the van, you’ll make do and I’ll go to Chelsea, I will not sign with Tottenham.'”
But it wasn’t made easy for him as he was warned about the consequences of the U-turn he was about to do.
“I stayed there for eight hours in the training centre. Tottenham’s director said ‘I’m going to report you to FIFA, this and that, fans here in England will boo you, this and that.’ They made up a lot of things.
“I got stuck there for eight hours. Then I left and I went straight to meet the Chelsea people to sort the details and sign.”
And just to rub it, he told the media as he joined that ‘Chelsea are one of the best clubs in the world’ and revealed his delight at playing for Jose Mourinho, whom he labelled ‘one of the best managers’.
It didn’t help the bad blood between the clubs, with supporters firmly bitter enemies, it seemed like it war in the boardroom too.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy refused to sell Luka Modric to Chelsea despite a £40m offer and the midfielder’s desire to go. At the time there was also friction between managers Jose Mourinho and Villas-Boas. They worked together at Porto, Chelsea and Inter but the relationship has soured.
Regardless, Willian made his debut for the club a couple of weeks later in their 2-1 Champions League defeat against Basel.
His first Premier League appearance saw him score just five minutes after coming off the bench away at Norwich in their 3-1 win.
Chelsea fans were clearly delighted with the player’s decision to choose them over Tottenham, so much so that they created a new chant in his name.
During his time at the club, supporters could be heard singing: “The s*** from Spurs, they booked his flight, but Willian, he saw the light, he got a call from Abramovich, and off he went to Stamford Bridge, he hates Tottenham, he hates Tottenham, he hates Tottenham and he hates Tottenham!”
Even Mourinho laughed at the time.
“That’s the danger of medicals before contracts,” the Stamford Bridge boss said with a smile on his face.
Willian played 339 times for Chelsea during seven seasons at the club, scoring 63 goals in all competitions.
In his 17 appearances against Spurs, he scored four goals and recorded one assist.
And while he won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Europa League in west London, Spurs are still waiting on a first trophy since 2008.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Willian then made Tottenham sick again by signing for their north London rivals Arsenal in 2020.
He spent one season at the Emirates Stadium before returning to Corinthians in his native Brazil for a year before heading back to England and joining Fulham in 2022.
The winger eventually left London for Greek side Olympiacos in 2024 but has now been linked with a return to England in 2025.
ESPN in Brazil report that two top flight clubs have been in talks about bringing the 36-year-old back to the Premier League.
Speaking about his time in London, he told the Evening Standard in 2023 that ‘London is everything’.
“Me and my family love being Londoners, we are happy to be back and living in London. It is one of the best cities in the world.” He also targeted playing at the top level of football until he is 37 or 38.
It suggests a London club might be his next destination, but it is safe to say it won’t be Spurs.
