Tottenham: Why signing Willian makes sense for Spurs

Brazilian Willian is out of contract at Chelsea. If reports can be taken seriously, the attacker wants to remain in London and Tottenham are a possibility. Is he worth it?

Tottenham Hotspur performed the medical for Chelsea back in 2013 when the Blues stole the Brazilian from under the noses of rival Spurs.

Fast forward seven years and now it might be Spurs looking to steal Willian as a signing from rival Arsenal.

At 31, having previously spurned the Spurs, is Willian worth bring in on the free.

Willian and production

Regardless of the prior history, which includes two goals in the Chelsea win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this past season, Willian is an extremely productive footballer, who would bring something extra to Spurs’ side. In seven seasons for Chelsea, Willian has combined for 113 goals plus assists in all competitions across more than 330 appearances for the club. That is equivalent to either a goal or an assist every 2.9 games for Chelsea.

That kind of production is not at the Harry Kane or Heung-Min Son level, but it would sit rather favorably within the existing squad. This past season, Willian had 11 goals and nine assists in all competitions.

Those numbers would have put Willian third on Spurs in goals, well behind Kane and Son, but with two more than the actual third-leading scorer Dele Alli who had nine goals in all comps. When you think about what was lost with Christian Eriksen this past season, those goals would have been nice.

In looking at Willian’s nine assists, that would have been second on Spurs, behind only Son who had a dozen on the year. Those nine were one more than the second Spur Serge Aurier who had eight assists, and three more than the third-leading Tottenham assist man on the season, Dele, who had six. In a season where Spurs offense sputtered at times, production like Willian could bring would be appreciated.

For further comparison on production, Lucas Moura, who Willian would be competing with for playing time, had seven goals and five assists in all competitions for Tottenham in 2019-20. Willian did all this in nearly 3,300 minutes this past season, which would have placed him third on Spurs in minutes played but was only the sixth-most minutes on Chelsea. In other words, the man stays healthy and is available nearly every game, something Spurs need and helps to discount his age.

Willian and positional flexibility

The other big factor that Willian brings to the table, which is something that, like Mauricio Pochettino before him, Jose Mourinho appreciates, is positional flexibility. According to whoscored.com, Willian played in four different positions across the attacking band for Chelsea this past season. While most effective in terms of production at right forward, his overall rating at all four positions is above 7.3.

In looking at starts, Willian played 15 games as the right forward in an attacking three and a further five as the left forward, producing six goals and five assists in those 20 matches playing across the front line. Willian played a further 12 matches in the midfield with seven appearances as the center attacking midfield and five as the right-sided midfield. The four goals and three assists is slightly less production, but he also played fewer games in those positions.

The one area that appears to not be a strength is coming on as a substitute, where Willian made eight appearances off the pine for the Blues but failed to score or assist in any of those appearances. While likely a statistical anomaly this past season, it still makes one wonder about his ability to continue to impact a match.

Willian and Spurs

Honestly, even at 31 as a spot starter, Willian could add a lot to Spurs. He provides additional experience and guile in a slightly more refined version of Lucas Moura. I could imagine a rotation of Moura, Son, and Willian on the wings with the explosive Steven Bergwijn then coming in off the bench to finish teams off. It could make for more potency in attack.

If reports are to be believed, even on a free transfer Willian wants a lot of money and a three-year deal. While I do not know that I need three years of Willian, Tottenham sure could have used him this past season and probably could in the next as well.

What do you think — should Spurs pony up to finally sign Willian, seven years after completing his medical?