Willian Says He Would Have Left Chelsea If Antonio Conte Remained as Manager

Willian has revealed there is "no chance" he would have stayed at Chelsea if Antonio Conte had remained in charge. 

The Brazilian was heavily linked with Manchester United and Barcelona earlier this summer, and he was unequivocal when asked if he would have still been at Stamford Bridge had Conte not been replaced by Maurizio Sarri, per Simon Johnson in the Evening Standard: "No chance. No. I'm here because I want to play for Chelsea. I will only leave if Chelsea want me to go."

Willian has also hinted he is enjoying Sarri's style of football much more than he did Conte's and believes it will pay dividends in Saturday's clash with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

Conte only won one of eight meetings with the Gunners in his tenure, but Willian believes that poor run should change now he has left Chelsea, per Johnson:

"I think we have a good chance to turn the results around against them because now we have a different way to play football. The manager tells us to play, to enjoy ourselves on the pitch, with responsibility. Now we have a different style, that's why we can create problems for Arsenal.

"Is it fun to play this way? I think so. We have a lot of players with quality up front, like Eden Hazard and Pedro. Players like that want to play football.

"That's why he (Sarri) talked about 'fun' football (on arriving at Chelsea). This is what we will try to do this season. Is this like Brazil's Samba style? Yes. This is what we do in Brazil and are trying to do here, playing with skill and movement."

Willian, 30, made his opinion of Conte quite clear when he obscured the face of the former Italy and Juve boss in a social media post after Chelsea won the FA Cup final back in May, via ESPN FC's Liam Twomey:

The Brazil international felt he was not given enough game time by the Italian, as 35 of the 70 Premier League appearances he made under Conte came from the bench.

Sarri was confirmed as Conte's successor on July 14 after months of speculation, and he made a winning start to his tenure in the Premier League as Chelsea beat Huddersfield Town 3-0 on Saturday.

Conte bowed out after winning a Premier League title and an FA Cup in his two seasons in charge at Stamford Bridge.