£30m man reportedly on Tottenham radar mocked Spurs just weeks ago

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Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly keen on Chelsea’s Willian – who mocked Spurs in a video just weeks ago.

With the New Year finally under way, this primarily means one thing in the football world – the January transfer window is open, and as such the rumour mill is in overdrive.

One report which has recently emerged, in the Daily Star and Daily Express, involves Chelsea midfielder Willian being linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, managed by two-time Blues head coach Jose Mourinho.

Admittedly, a move for Willian between the two London rivals seems to make sense – the Brazilian is out of contract in the summer, Chelsea have a tendency to only offer one-year deals to players over 30, he and Mourinho have worked well together in the past, and he would be able to remain in London.

However, besides the rivalry between Chelsea and Spurs, would the Blues really relinquish one of their best players to a direct rival for the Premier League’s top four midway through the season, particularly when the player in question is so influential in a dressing room featuring a young manager and a lot of youth team graduates?

Willian also has some previous with Spurs, the 31-year-old coming close to signing for them in the summer of 2013, only for Chelsea to swoop in and bring him to Stamford Bridge, owner Roman Abramovich said to have intervened in the successful pursuit of the player from Anzhi Makhachkala (BBC Sport).

As reported by The Metro, Tottenham had been negotiating the transfer for weeks and even flew Willian into London to complete his medical and sign the contract, only for him to change his mind and put pen to paper in West London instead in a reported £30million deal (BBC Sport).

Just two weeks ago, when the two clubs met in the Premier League, Chelsea shared a video on their Twitter channel building up to the game in which Willian’s transfer was referenced.

In the video, entitled “The Pride of London”, Willian is getting his hair cut when the barber asks: “Tell me something, Tottenham… did they really pay for your flight?” after which Willian bursts out laughing as someone else then says: “I bet they regret not buying you a return as well!”