Chelsea Complete £32million Signing of Willian After Work Permit Granted

**© Darren Walsh**Chelsea's during the 1st team photocall at the Cobham Training Ground on 23rd August 2013 in Cobham, England.

Chelsea have officially confirmed the signing of Brazilian midfielder Willian after the player had his work permit granted.

The 25-year-old footballer, who was signed from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, will wear the number 22 shirt at Chelsea.

According to the Chelsea club website, “Possessing trademark Brazilian skills, and with the guile and creativity to unlock tight defenses, during his time at Shakhtar Willian won four league titles, three Ukrainian Cups, three Ukrainian Super Cups and, most memorably, the 2009 UEFA Cup, which was clinched with a 2-1 over Werder Bremen.”

Reportedly, Chelsea paid Anzhi £32million to sign the highly-rated footballer.

It was only last week when Willian was on the verge of signing with Tottenham Hotspur after agreeing personal terms and passing a medical. But Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich stepped in and telephoned the owner of Anzhi to convince him to sell Willian to Chelsea instead of Tottenham.

Willian joins a crowded list of attacking midfielder options at Chelsea. Unless Chelsea can offload several players, Jose Mourinho is going to have a very difficult time trying to rotate his squad to give enough playing time to each of the footballers who deserve to earn minutes for Chelsea.