Willian may be on his way...

[Bassey the warrior]

There could be a number on their way. Palhinha, Robinson, Tosin, Tete, Reed, Decordova Reid, Adama, Raul, Vinicius, Stansfield, Muniz (unlikely), Rodak as well as Willian. Probably missed one or two others as well. With the possibility of so many changes i hope we don't qualify for Europe as it would possibly be too great a strain on our potentially, new squad.

This is the conundrum for our club of our size. Qualifying for Europe may help keep our best players and attract a higher calibre of player to sign for us, but the extra games will probably impact our performance in the league. Of course, we managed to deal with it under Roy. It relies on having more squad depth.

[Nick Bateman]

I'm one of those who does not agree with ageism, if you're good enough you're old enough. Willian still has the fitness and quality to play at 35 and a year will not change him. Ronaldo went on till 40 at a fairly high level, and if you take care of your body off the pitch you can play at the top in your late 30s.

We have cover in Harry Wilson but would be good to retian Willian's services for another year.

[perry geyton]

Guaranteed him and his agent are waiting to see what offers come in $$$$$$

I'm sure he's got plenty and is set for life 100 times over,,,, 

It's never enough

Muniz, Cairney and Robinson have all benefited immensely from playing alongside him, Tim Ream got his last deal done with no agent arguably after the best season of his career, it's a shame Willian can't be happy with what he has

[wback]

We should keep him - there's been no discernible drop off in form this year, or speed, or anything else about him, other than a few unfortunately timed injuries.

He's hollywood for us, royalty, and I think you can see he helps and gets on with the other brazilian players.

We need a big, age-related overhaul of the squad, but there's no point getting rid of players who can still do it at a very high level, and picking the right ones to replace in the right order will be very important.

[jayffc]

In my opinion there are some odd takes towards Willian in this thread. He's not really insinuated anything about leaving etc. in that interview and reiterates that the club want him to stay, which is a naturally understandable assumption that we would. He was a free agent and we've had two fantastic years out of him when originally nobody expected a thing from him. He's been arguably our most consistent player in the last two seasons and a vital cog in our success, and it seems like people have got their knives out for him based on an interview he's done where most people's opinions have been inferred from what he's said. He's always going to leave at some point, and if we can get in a long term solution this summer then it might be a good time to let him leave, albeit I would love for another year of him as a starter or rotation player.

Knives out?

Behave lads, at most the opsaid it made them a "tiny bit peed off" and I myself didnt love seeing him seemingly advertising himself around to rival london clubs before the seasons out whilst acknowledging how good hes been for us and said it makes it a bit hard to root for him when its coming across thaylt were a back up option for him. Not exactly grounds for a stabbing 😅

Would have liked him to stay but if not oh well, time to move on

Hardly surprising such things miffed a couple but no ones gone overboard even remotely

[HillingdonFFC]

Been told from a couple of connected sources he's off to Saudi. We'll have to wait & see I suppose. I'll hold my hands up & say I never wanted him in the first place, certainty wouldn't have given him two years extra & I was badly wrong on both counts. His fitness,pace & workrate for a  player of his age are incredible. Still oozes class

[Grassy Noel]

Been told from a couple of connected sources he's off to Saudi. We'll have to wait & see I suppose. I'll hold my hands up & say I never wanted him in the first place, certainty wouldn't have given him two years extra & I was badly wrong on both counts. His fitness,pace & workrate for a  player of his age are incredible. Still oozes class

And if he goes to Saudi then good luck to him. I am sure the memory of returning to Brazil lingers on and he will be careful about any overseas move this time. He should keep a low profile in Saudi though.

[Jim©]

In my opinion there are some odd takes towards Willian in this thread. He's not really insinuated anything about leaving etc. in that interview and reiterates that the club want him to stay, which is a naturally understandable assumption that we would. He was a free agent and we've had two fantastic years out of him when originally nobody expected a thing from him. He's been arguably our most consistent player in the last two seasons and a vital cog in our success, and it seems like people have got their knives out for him based on an interview he's done where most people's opinions have been inferred from what he's said. He's always going to leave at some point, and if we can get in a long term solution this summer then it might be a good time to let him leave, albeit I would love for another year of him as a starter or rotation player.

As Jay says above, as the OP I've got every right to feel a tiny bit peed off with him as the interview is quite an obvious "come and get me, or at least offer me a contract" from other London clubs. I find it a tiny bit classless after we did reinvigorate his failing career by taking a gamble on him back in the Prem. Yes he's been great, yes I think he's got massive ability still, but I'm not liking his stance if he's playing us off against others and shamless-ly openly too.

[perry geyton]

Been told from a couple of connected sources he's off to Saudi. We'll have to wait & see I suppose. I'll hold my hands up & say I never wanted him in the first place, certainty wouldn't have given him two years extra & I was badly wrong on both counts. His fitness,pace & workrate for a  player of his age are incredible. Still oozes class

That definitely weighs up $$$$$$

[StuinSalop]

Has been absolute class and I have loved watching him for the last 2 seasons but it may be time to move on.  He will not keep this up and he knows it.  If he gets a crazy offer he has every right to finish his career off by maximising his earnings.   I really hope he stays but if he goes, we need to get a replacement that Silva can coach into an adequate replacement.  Alas, a player of Willians class is very unlikely to come up again for a long while.

[Bal_13]

He's a top player who wants one last shot at winning a title to retire at the top... OK

On a personal level, I get it, but I agree that no title-contending club wanted him, he was considered washed by those clubs, and we trusted him, believed in him and gave him that platform again. So this is a pretty ugly kick in the teeth in my opinion, basically advertising himself out to other bigger London clubs? Dare I say it - I get the sense he'd probably jump at the chance to rejoin Chelsea and retire there.

No thanks pal, off you trot then, have loved watching him but clearly, when it comes to sense of belonging here- there's little to none for him. He messed about last year with Nottingham Forest too didn't he?

In reality - he's 35, and we'd be replacing him in a year anyway - so looks like time to turn our attentions to the next generation. So be it.

He has given us 2 years of fantastic football, personally I think he has paid his dues, and if he wants a final chance to win something then good luck to him.

He's a top player and a top pro. He clearly respects the club, is a good teammate and gives his all on the pitch but the reality is he's not a Fulham fan and he's been here less than two years in a long career. Of course he's not going to be a fan in the way we are.

I think it's understandable that he's looking at his options - especially when the club wouldn't give the security he wanted last summer (and for what it's worth I think the club made the right decision in doing so).

If we move on from Willian, thanks for the service, that goal vs Forest was unreal. If he stays next year, great, he's a proper player.