Lampard reveals Willian thinking and says new contract down to money

Willian TEAMtalk

Frank Lampard says Willian is in talks with Chelsea over a new contract after revealing how he has managed to get the best out of the Brazilian.

Willian was the star of the show in the 2-0 win at Tottenham on Sunday, scoring both goals in a performance that Lampard has described as “incredible”.

The 31-year-old though only has a contract until next summer and is free to sign a pre-contract agreement with any foreign club from next Wednesday.

He always claimed he was happy and at the end of November he said his future was in the hands of the club although, at the time, there was no offer on the table.

The winger has been mentioned as a target for Barcelona and Juventus, but Lampard wants to keep the player after revealing how he got Willian on side at the start of the season.

There is no doubt Lampard is a huge fan and the Blues boss says the deal is now down to money.

Lampard said: “He’s in talks with the club [about a contract], he speaks with the club on the money side of it.

“[He’s been] Great for me, especially when he plays like he did the other day. It was an incredible performance. He has that talent.

“I knew he had that talent before I got the job. I think I have said this before, but the last year or two I have looked at him from afar and wasn’t sure how much he was enjoying it, whether he felt happy in games.

“A bit of body language, in and out sometimes. My feeling at the start of the season was to give him his head, tell him how much I feel about him and how I see him.

“Get him fit, get him working off the ball because I know he can, and the rest in terms of what he does on the ball I can kind of let him do that because he has this incredibly ability to burst away from people.’

 

 

Willian has hit five goals and four assists in 24 games so far this season, and Lampard has admitted he asked for more goals from the winger.

Lampard added: “If there was one thing I wanted from him at the start of the season it was a question of can you score more goals, because your talent says that you should do.

“And that means sometimes running into space behind defenders, and getting the other side, etc, and he is doing all those things.

“And the experience helps when you have got a young team, when the other options are younger, experience certainly helps.

“All his team-mates love him, low maintenance player to have in the squad, so yes I am really happy with him.”