Willian and Sarri confirm midfielder’s future remains at Chelsea

Joe Williams

Willian and Maurizio Sarri have confirmed that the midfielder’s future is at Chelsea following their victory over Newcastle.

Willian’s second-half strike proved to be the winner as Chelsea ran out 2-1 winners over Newcastle to pull six points clear of fifth-placed Arsenal in the race for Champions League football.

After the game, Willian was relieved to get over the line but admitted Chelsea have to add a killer touch if they are to hold on to their top-four status.

“It was difficult to kill the match,” he told BT Sport. “We have to be more clinical, but we have the quality to do it.

“If we kill the match as soon as possible, it is easier to play and find more spaces.”

The winger has been routinely linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in recent times, but he poured cold water on the rumours.

“My future is at Chelsea!” he insisted.

Manager Sarri also confirmed the winger’s future was at the club. He said: “Willian is very important for us. I think he has to stay with us.”

However, he was less than pleased with the performance, having seen his side drop off after opening the scoring.

“I am very happy with the result but the performance was not so good, especially between 1-0 and 1-1,” the Italian said. “We slept for 25 minutes. We could have done better but it was important to get the points.

“It may be (concentration), we might have thought it would be easy, but it wasn’t.”