Willian - worth a punt?

The Purley King

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Have read a few articles over the last couple of days saying we might be interested in Willian on a free when he leaves Chelsea.
Depending on wage demands I'd definitely sign him on a free. On his day he's an excellent player and he should be around his peak now, or maybe just past it. 3 year contract and he can leave when he's 34.
What says the caf?
 
not unless he's a last resort no.

Chelsea fans are happy he's leaving.
 
No. exactly the signing to avoid.

We cannot have players using us as a retirement home.
 
The Purley King said:
Have read a few articles over the last couple of days saying we might be interested in Willian on a free when he leaves Chelsea.
Depending on wage demands I'd definitely sign him on a free. On his day he's an excellent player and he should be around his peak now, or maybe just past it. 3 year contract and he can leave when he's 34.
What says the caf?
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Yes!! I mean Sanchez is doing well anyway now for us so let's sign another old one again.
 
Anyone got any links to this?

romufc said:
No. exactly the signing to avoid.

We cannot have players using us as a retirement home.
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I do understand this point but I feel there is a somewhat lazy generalization where people think a 30+ year old player is automatically searching for a retirement home. For example this post:
UNITED ACADEMY said:
Yes!! I mean Sanchez is doing well anyway now for us so let's sign another old one again.
Click to expand...
Wilian strikes me as a good professional who always give 100% in the games he plays. I think a couple experienced players who have won leagues, can guide others and become strong squad members are welcome on a free transfer.
 
No point at all competing on wages with what he could get from China for, at best, a half decent squad option. Especially when he'd be eating into the minutes of James/Greenwood/Gomes/Chong.
 
VP89 said:
Anyone got any links to this?


I do understand this point but I feel there is a somewhat lazy generalization where people think a 30+ year old player is automatically searching for a retirement home. For example this post:

Wilian strikes me as a good professional who always give 100% in the games he plays. I think a couple experienced players who have won leagues, can guide others and become strong squad members are welcome on a free transfer.
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I get what you mean, he comes across professional, he will demand about 130k a week.

I wouldnt be opposed to a signing like this to compliment a starting 11 but I fear that we will end up using him as first choice.

We have a backup in Dan James. I would prefer to sign a starting RW who we can build with.

a 30+ signing I would be happy with is like a Ighalo type where he knows he is backup.
 
Feck no, this is the kind of short-termism that's fecked us over the last few seasons. If the next window was a January window then I'd consider it short term if we obviously needed a body in there, ala Ighalo, but signing him now when there are way better options available, in our reserves at that, is madness.
 
Depends what he wants in wages and how long contract he would require. I am not opposed to us signing him if he is an addition to a quality winger - rather than a cheap option
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
Yes!! I mean Sanchez is doing well anyway now for us so let's sign another old one again.
Click to expand...

Hopefully he wouldn't be another Sanchez :)
Sometimes you do need a couple of older heads around though, can't have a team full of 21 year olds.
Perhaps its just whenever I've watched him, but he's decent and can occasionally be amazing. For a freebie I don't think its a bad option.

I guess it might depend if we are getting Sancho or not. If we are then he probably doesn't make too much sense. If not though.....
 
If Chelsea won't give him a 3 year contract why should we?
 
romufc said:
I get what you mean, he comes across professional, he will demand about 130k a week.

I wouldnt be opposed to a signing like this to compliment a starting 11 but I fear that we will end up using him as first choice.

We have a backup in Dan James. I would prefer to sign a starting RW who we can build with.

a 30+ signing I would be happy with is like a Ighalo type where he knows he is backup.
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Sure, I wouldn't expect Wilian to be a starter, it would only be considered if it was to have along with Sancho.
 
Nah.

I’m not even against older players as a rule. I’d have taken Robben when he left Bayern. But he is Robben, and Willian is well, Willian.
 
I like Willian, never got the hate from other Chelsea fans. Was our best player when the rest of the squad downed tools in 15/16.

I don't see why Willian to Utd would be a bad move? He's free bar reasonable wages and he'd add depth to your squad. He won't be your long term solution or superstar but he'd be a fantastic squad player in a position you're light.
 
No no no. Sancho baby.

I’d consider it on a free AFTER signing Sancho but not instead.

I don’t think Ole will make this mistake, it goes almost totally against his recruitment approach so far.

Short term signing.
 
The Purley King said:
Hopefully he wouldn't be another Sanchez :)
Sometimes you do need a couple of older heads around though, can't have a team full of 21 year olds.
Perhaps its just whenever I've watched him, but he's decent and can occasionally be amazing. For a freebie I don't think its a bad option.

I guess it might depend if we are getting Sancho or not. If we are then he probably doesn't make too much sense. If not though.....
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We do. But that’s for a player who has good character and knows the club like Giggs, Bruce, Scholes, Neville and etc. Their role is to be mentor and someone that young player can look up to them and Willian isn’t that type of player to sign.

Rashford be like in the dressing room. Hmmm, what a player willian, legend of the club, great character, I want to be like him one day.
 
The Purley King said:
Hopefully he wouldn't be another Sanchez :)
Sometimes you do need a couple of older heads around though, can't have a team full of 21 year olds.
Perhaps its just whenever I've watched him, but he's decent and can occasionally be amazing. For a freebie I don't think its a bad option.

I guess it might depend if we are getting Sancho or not. If we are then he probably doesn't make too much sense. If not though.....
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Romero , Mata, Matic, De Gea, Pogba, Maguire, Fred all are 26+. I think that's good enough number.

Also these older heads should be at the club for some time or at least should be great players to have influence on dressing room. Zlatan had that aura, he came and everyone respected him, don't think it would be same with players like Willian.
 
31 going on 32 and seeking a 3 year deal. A big no thanks on this one. Im sure he’s on our list of potential targets but I’d presume he’d far down that list when you consider the better options ahead of him.
 
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The Purley King said:
Depending on wage demands I'd definitely sign him on a free.
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Me too. Depending on wage (and contract lenght) and options. We will not get Sancho at all cost, Willian would buy us time and be "ready made".

He could even put us in a better position when we negotiate with Dortmund (but would prefer to avoid if we can get Sancho this summer).

I'm probably the only one in here, but I dont believe we will get Sancho this summer. Hope I am wrong.
 
VP89 said:
Sure, I wouldn't expect Wilian to be a starter, it would only be considered if it was to have along with Sancho.
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That is fine then. But then why do we need him? We have Dan James, Greenwood and Chong?
 
A past-it, nightmare alternative to Sancho. No thanks.
 
romufc said:
That is fine then. But then why do we need him? We have Dan James, Greenwood and Chong?
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Don't think Chong is dependable and Dan James only suits certain oppositions, where we operate on a counter. Greenwood sure, but I want to see him more centrally, in and around the box more because that's where he's best in my opinion.
 
VP89 said:
Sure, I wouldn't expect Wilian to be a starter, it would only be considered if it was to have along with Sancho.
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So Willian comes in on 130-150K per week to sit on the bench while Sancho starts and take valuable game time from James/Greenwood?

Makes no sense whatsoever.

Willian is past his best and not what we need right now, even on a free transfer.

Any new signing has to make us better, most of the links instantly do that (Sancho/Van Der Beek) and others improve the squad and look to the future (Grealish/Bellingham). Willian just doesn't do that, even if we signed him on a 1 year deal if we didnt sign Sancho this window, i'd still rather we didnt and play James/Greenwood.

Chelsea are more or less in a similar position to us under Lampard and if they dont want him, why should we?

Chelsea are going out and signing Ziyech and Werner and pursuing Havartz - we need to be aggressive in the market and always aim to improve. Just get Sancho done, stop wasting time on has beens like Willian
 
Craig Ward said:
So Willian comes in on 130-150K per week to sit on the bench while Sancho starts and take valuable game time from James/Greenwood?

Makes no sense whatsoever.

Willian is past his best and not what we need right now, even on a free transfer.

Any new signing has to make us better, most of the links instantly do that (Sancho/Van Der Beek) and others improve the squad and look to the future (Grealish/Bellingham). Willian just doesn't do that, even if we signed him on a 1 year deal if we didnt sign Sancho this window, i'd still rather we didnt and play James/Greenwood.

Chelsea are more or less in a similar position to us under Lampard and if they dont want him, why should we?

Chelsea are going out and signing Ziyech and Werner and pursuing Havartz - we need to be aggressive in the market and always aim to improve. Just get Sancho done, stop wasting time on has beens like Willian
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You're quoting a post where I said it would only be considered if Sancho was coming, and then suggesting in your post that I'm implying a substitution for Sancho. It's not uncommon to bring in a player on 100+ a week for a squad option provided they add in various other areas, such as experience and leadership that the manager feels would be a great suit to his team. Young was on 100k+ as a squad option, and he left on his own accord to move to Inter Milan. Jones is on 100k+ FFS. 100k plus in todays world is not a silly sum for seasoned squad players at top clubs. And you'll need 1-2 of those heads in the squad, you'll need that balance and that leadership.

I'm not begging for Willian here but I'm just saying don't rule him off with a "oh but Sanchez" outlook. That's just lazy.
 
Sort 2+1 contract (option to extend on our side) with reasonable wage demands, hell why not in the position we’re light. Rather this than splashing 100m on Sancho, we need to be wiser in the market.
 
No. Absolutely no point. Get Sancho. That's who we need. There's a deal to be done there. They should bw negotiating it right now really...
 
romufc said:
We have a backup in Dan James. I would prefer to sign a starting RW who we can build with.

a 30+ signing I would be happy with is like a Ighalo type where he knows he is backup.
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Please name that player. There's a whole thread for Sancho alternatives. The problem with alternatives is everyone club seems to be asking £50m for players with a bit of pace, and no better ball skills than Chong. Doesn't look like we can find an alternative, nor afford Sancho. Looks like Willian is best cheap 'alternative'.
 
No. It’s not a signing in line with the kind of squad we are trying to build and I don’t see how he is going to settle in well with such a different group so quickly. In terms of veterans he’d be taking a spot from say Mata and given the latter seems very popular and to have got some spark back I don’t see the good of that. He would take playing time away from developing younger players like Greenwood and James while not being someone who can stick around to make a long-term contribution. A classy player but not really a United one for me.
 
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