‘I’d agreed’ – Willian recalls how he snubbed Spurs at the very last second

Former Chelsea star Willian has now revealed the details behind his decision to snub Tottenham Hotspur in favour of a move to Chelsea in 2013.

The story of Willian having a medical at Hotspur Way, only for Chelsea to steal him from under Tottenham’s noses at the last minute, has become quite infamous over the years.

Spurs, under Andre Villas-Boas, were revamping their squad that summer after losing Gareth Bale to Real Madrid and eventually ended up bringing in seven new faces.

Willian was expected to be one of the players to arrive through the door but just when it looked like the Lilywhites had agreed on a deal, their London rivals swooped in at the last minute to take the Brazilian to Stamford Bridge.

The winger, who completed a return to London this summer by signing for newly-promoted Fulham, has now opened up on how his move to the Blues materialised nine years ago.

He told The Athletic: “Chelsea came on the day I was going to sign the contract with Spurs. 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.”

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It is worth remembering that Spurs only signed Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela after the Willian move collapsed. Given how well both players did at the club and how they are idolised by the Tottenham fan base, Willian’s snub worked out quite decently for the North Londoners in the end.

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