Report: Chelsea’s Brazilian star Willian gets lucrative offer from Inter Miami
Brazilian star Willian, whose contract with Chelsea expires after Saturday’s FA Cup final, has offers from five clubs, including a lucrative one from Inter Miami, according to Sky Sports.
An Inter Miami team official confirmed a few weeks ago that the club was in talks with Willian, but the 31-year-old had said he wanted to remain in Europe for a few years and then would consider joining Major League Soccer.
Chelsea, Barcelona and Inter Miami have reportedly all made contract offers, and Arsenal, which plays Chelsea in the FA Cup final, is also said to be in the mix.
The Sky Sports report said the “biggest proposal” on the table is from Inter Miami, which is co-owned by David Beckham and has been shopping for an elite attacking player to fill a “Designated Player” spot.
Willian is demanding a three-year deal and said he won’t announce his plans until after the FA Cup final. He has been at Chelsea since August 2013, winning two Premier League titles and an FA Cup.
Asked in early July about signing a marquee forward or midfielder, Inter Miami chief operating officer Paul McDonough said: “Conversations are ongoing. Some days I think I’m close (to closing a deal) and other days I’m farther away. I hope to have a player signed before the end of the (MLS is Back) tournament to join the team for the rest of the season.”
The tournament ends on Aug. 11 and MLS plans to resume the regular season in empty home stadiums in late-August or early-September.
Among the other names linked to the team: Manchester City’s 34-year-old Spanish playmaker David Silva and Uruguayan forwards Edinson Cavani of Paris Saint Germain and Luis Suarez of Barcelona. Silva reportedly has offers from Valencia and a few clubs in Dubai.
“Our plan stays the same, we’ve added a few players through this break (Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and Brek Shea), but we still have a plan to add two more international players between now and when we start up again,” McDonough said before the team left for Orlando on July 1. “A No. 9 and No. 8 is ideally what we would look for, but if we end up with a 9 and another attacking player, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Game postponed due
Fort Lauderdale CF’s game against the Richmond Kickers scheduled for Saturday has been postponed until further notice as a precaution following one individual testing positive for COVID-19.
The team, which is Inter Miami’s USL affiliate, did not reveal if the individual is a player or staff member.
The individual who tested positive is following strict isolation protocols along with other guidelines put in place by the league as well as local government officials. Fort Lauderdale CF team training sessions have been cancelled and regular testing will continue in the wake of the positive test result.
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 2:01 PM.