Prem star admits he could've joined Liverpool or Spurs before £32m move

Premier League veteran Willian admits Liverpool showed an interest in signing him before he chose Chelsea over Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2013, speaking to The Athletic.

The fact that Chelsea and Spurs have not done a single deal between themselves over the last eight years is proof of the bad blood that still exists following that most provocative of transfer sagas nearly a decade ago, even if the relations do appear to have thawed somewhat in recent times.

Brazil international Willian even underwent a medical at Spurs (The Guardian). That was before Chelsea swooped in of course, hi-jacking a deal that looked all-but done; much to the delight of a particularly self-satisfied Jose Mourinho.

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chelsea willian — Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images

“I was in London for two weeks, waiting, waiting for Tottenham to decide,” Willian recalls, Chelsea having paid £32 million to lure him away from the flash-in-the-pan Russian megaclub that was Anzhi Makachkala. “Because they were in a situation where Gareth Bale was in the process of leaving them to join Real Madrid.

“Liverpool 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,” the 34-year-old adds. “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!’. Then I left the training ground and went back to the hotel. It was a difficult situation because I’d agreed more or less to join Spurs. But in my mind was only Chelsea.

“Once the deal between Anzhi and Chelsea was agreed, I only wanted to go there. It was the best decision of my career.”

After a brief and ill-fated stint at Arsenal, Willian completed a shock return to the Premier League in August. And there is clearly still life left in this old dog. Willian looked as sharp as a tack on his full Fulham debut on Friday, impressing in the 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest.