Chelsea Ask Players To Return To Training As The Premier League Is Set To Resume

The Premier League is set to resume behind the closed doors. There are still nine matches left for each of the clubs in the English top flight. Chelsea had asked their overseas players who to go home before the lockdown situation emerged due to the coronavirus pandemic. Marcos Alonso, Emerson Palmieri, and Willian went to Spain, Italy, and Brazil respectively. According to the British Government guidelines, the overseas players will have to be in self-quarantine for 14 days.

According to a statement released by the Premier League that says, “At a shareholders meeting, clubs discussed possible steps to resume the season. The League and clubs will only return to training and playing with Government guidance, under expert advice and after consultation with players and managers.”

The League was suspended due to Coronavirus pandemic on March 13th. Dubbed as ‘Project restart’, all 20 Premier League clubs will participate in a video conference this week. The purpose will be to decide the date to kick start the campaign again. The date is currently scheduled to be on June 8th. It is a tentative date so far.

The Initial Comments Made By The Chelsea Star

Willian is one player who is currently at his home in Brazil, and his current contract is running out in June. The veteran forward says he is ready to play in the remaining games for Chelsea even it happens after June. The Brazilian has refused the two-year contract extension given by Chelsea recently as he wanted three years. He says it will be hard to leave Chelsea this way.

“It is a hard decision. I identified myself a lot at Chelsea, I have a lot of love for everyone at the club, and the fans.”

The 31-year-old play-maker wishes to stay in London for the rest of his career and will have no problems to join Chelsea’s rivals next season.

“However, it is like I said before if I leave Chelsea with no trouble and leaving the doors open, it would be fine to move to a rival club.”

Willian was full of praise for his previous boss at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho, who is the current manager at Tottenham Hotspur.

What Could Happen Now With Few Chelsea Players Set To Leave?

Another veteran player to leave Chelsea this summer is Pedro. The Spaniard was signed by Mourinho in Winter 2015, just a few weeks earlier he got sacked by the Blues that year. Chelsea is looking to strengthen their squad with some fresh blood in the team next season.

Quite a few stars have been linked with a move away from the club. Whether those deals actually happen or not, remains to be seen. The pandemic has messed up the transfer market big-time. Keeping that in mind, not a lot of clubs will want to spend big money this summer.

They may be rather keen to wait and watch instead. If that is the case, many of the players may have to take wage-cuts to complete deals.