Chelsea ace Willian flirts with Barcelona move in Lionel Messi comments

Chelsea star Willian looks set to leave the club at the end of the season, with speculation continuing to ramp up over his future.

The 31-year-old winger is out of contract at the end of the current campaign, and has been tipped to walk away from Stamford Bridge.

Willian was a previous transfer target for Barcelona, who had multiple bids turned down for him last year.

The Spanish giants were also rumoured to be interested in him over the course of the summer, but the Blues held firm.

Now, however, he is approaching the end of his deal, and will be able to talk to foreign clubs in January over a future free transfer at the conclusion of the season.

The winger has remained relatively coy on his future, but has openly admitted he would be willing to stay at Chelsea.

Speaking this week while on international duty with Brazil, Willian has risked frightening Chelsea fans after singing the praises of Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

“He’s a great player,” Willian added.

“The best in the world. But we have faced Argentina in the past and this time is not going to be any different.”

Willian’s comments came ahead of Brazil’s clash with Messi’s Argentina on Friday, and the Chelsea star admitted he was nervous about the threat the Barca ace provides.

“We have to pay a lot of attention to him,” he continued.

“We have to restrict his spaces. But we can’t man-mark him, what we have to do is work together to close down the space he gets.