As ESPN Brasil broadcast Fulham’s match against Manchester United on Sunday, they also featured a nice interview with Whites’ star Willian.
Despite having a controversial departure from his home country in the summer, the winger is clearly happy about his move to Craven Cottage, claiming he’s expecting big things from the club in the next few years. Having spoken of a place in the Champions League, he may sound even more excited than the club’s own fans.
“I think it’s a different challenge. I played in England, at Chelsea, for seven years and then I went through Arsenal. They are different challenges,” Willian told ESPN brasil.
“Fulham comes from some years with ups and downs, going up and down. I see Fulham with a different mindset, wanting to stay and grow. Of reaching new challenges, even playing in European tournaments, such as the Europa League and Champions League. It’s been a different challenge. I’m feeling at home, I arrived here not long ago and was well received by everyone. This made me very happy and happy to play my best football on the pitch.”
Willian also explained his arrival at Fulham. It had been no secret that he was in talks with the club, and was spotted training even before being announced as their new signing. Now he claims that manager Marco Silva had big weight in his decision, as well as the possibility of living in London once again.
“When I left Corinthians, I immediately came to London to negotiate with some clubs. And then I had the opportunity to speak to Marco Silva. We chatted and talked a lot for a few days. I really enjoyed the conversation we had. He spoke of ambition, of what the team was planning for this year. I thought ‘suddenly it’s an opportunity to play in the Premier League and stay in London, which is a place that my family and I love’. So I think it was the best choice to return to the Premier League.”
Still speaking of Fulham’s good form this season, he highlighted the squad’s mentality, claiming he has many teammates whose mindset can help them achieve positive results.
“Firstly, our mentality of wanting to win. There are players here who want to win, grow, conquer important things in football. And you see on the field everyone giving and helping each other. The first part also comes a lot from the coach, what he has been doing in the week, the instructions, how we are going to defend… this has helped a lot, these little details that he passes on to us. And we arrive at the game already knowing what to do and what the opponent is going to do.”
Willian joined Fulham as a free agent this summer, and only signed a one-year deal with the Whites. For now, he has one goal and one assist in eight appearances.
